Agent Against the Agency
by darkdemondog24
Summary: Major Monogram has crossed the line this time, and asks Perry to destroy his nemesis! Not having the guts to do it, Perry teams up with some unlikely friends to help protect his frenemy. NOT DoofxPerry.
1. Chapter 1

This fanfiction is a Phineas and Ferb story. I do not own any of the characters, I just write about them. I will also have you know that this is a Doofenshmirtz and Perry FRENEMY story. It is not meant to be slash! Also, there are a lot of chapters and more than 1 character point of view. Enjoy!

* * *

**Perry's POV**

"I know what we're going to do today Ferb!"

That was all I really caught before the boys ran out of their room and downstairs for breakfast. I figured whatever they were doing today would be amazing as always, but today I was way too exhausted to care. I was lying lazily at the end of Phineas's bed, wishing I could get more sleep. But with my luck as soon as I closed my eyes my little wrist watch alarm would go off, signaling me to report to my boss for my latest mission. Being an agent had its upsides, but sleeping in definitely wasn't one of them. I laid my head down on my paws anyway, waiting for the feeling of unconsciousness to wash over me, and was just about to shut my eyes and drift off…

Bee-beep.  
Bee-beep.  
Bee-beep.

Dang it. Right on schedule. I lifted a small patch of my fur to reveal the face of Major Monogram on the little monitor of my wrist watch. I silently hoped that my boss was just calling to say that Doofenshmirtz got hit by a bus and couldn't be doing anything evil today. Or my nemesis had given up evil once and for all. Or I was being reassigned to some other evil scientist that didn't have annoying monologues…and hopefully didn't sing. Any of the above would work, as long as I could have an easy day today. I could usually stand my nemesis, but I was really too exhausted to put up with him today…

"Ah, good morning Agent P!" my boss greeted me.

I just gave him a groggy exhausted stare. As if I could say 'good morning' back anyways…

"I just wanted to inform you that instead of going to your base today we want you to go directly to the O.W.C.A. HQ. 'HQ' is an abbreviation for head quarters by the way. Doesn't it sound much cooler than just 'head quarters'?"

Really? HQ stands for head quarters? Fascinating. Can I go back to bed now?

"Right, anyway, we're having a big meeting today. So meet us at the HQ. I just love saying that! HQ! HQ, HQ, HQ…" Monogram continued.

I shut off the wrist watch before my boss could finish. Good. A meeting. I guess that classifies as an easy day, as long as it's long and dreary enough to bore me back to sleep. I unwillingly slumped out of Phineas's soft, warm, comfortable bed (WHY?) and trudged lazily out of the room and downstairs. I trudged outside of the Flynn-Fletcher house and into the backyard. I knew I could have just as easily used one of my indoor secret passages, since I wouldn't have to sneak past Phineas and Ferb, but I liked being sneaky. I didn't get that much excitement foiling Doof's schemes anymore, so I needed to feel like a stealthy quick-witted secret agent somehow. As soon as Phineas and Ferb looked away for just a split second, I tapped twice on a secret spot in the ground, which opened up into a tunnel. It always amazed me how I knew where every secret entrance to my base was. I leaped up onto my hind legs and whipped on my signature fedora, sliding down the chute and into my secret underground base. Once there, I grabbed the nearest jet pack and flew back out, taking the escape hatch that lead through the chimney of the Flynn-Fletcher house. As soon as I was a few yards away from the house, I couldn't help smirking when I heard Phineas say "Hey, where's Perry?" right on schedule.

***

Once I got to my agency's secret head quarters, (which was underground somewhere under Danville, just like my base) I landed my jetpack and walked inside the O.W.C.A. There was a large circular table with all the agents sitting around it. And when I say all the agents, I mean _all_ the agents. Every secret agent I ever knew, even Wanda's division was there. This must have been a really important meeting for all the agency's divisions to be there at the same time. That rarely ever happened.

As I was searching for a seat, I couldn't help smiling when I glanced around at all the other agents' hats, which were slightly different than mine (light brown with a dark brown stripe, rather than dark brown with a black stripe.) It signaled that they were lower ranked agents then me, which made me feel superior. I don't like bragging, but I loved being Monogram's best agent.

I glanced over and spotted Isabella's dog, Pinky. He had the same kind of hat as me, since he was the best agent of his division. I really liked Pinky. He was one of the few agents I really could talk to. Luckily, I found an empty spot next to him, and sat down.

"Hi Perry!" the little shaking Chihuahua said eagerly.

"Hi Pinky." I said, but I had a lot less enthusiasm in my voice.

"Why the long face?" Pinky asked. "Aren't you excited for the meeting? It must be pretty big for all the agents to be here, huh?"

"Eh, not really." I admitted. "I'm just not really into it today."

"Who knows, maybe Major Monogram is just going to give us all a vacation! And that's why they called us all down here!" Pinky said. Pinky's tail was wagging like crazy, and he was shaking with excitement as usual. Why was Pinky so worked up for a stupid meeting? I guess it's just a dog thing.

"Yeah, I wish." I said sarcastically, chuckling to myself half-heartedly.

Major Monogram called all the agents to attention. The animals settled down, and turned to the head of the table where the Major sat. He cleared his throat and readied himself to start droning on with some big pointless speech. I yawned. Nap time.

"I suppose you're all wondering why I called you here today," he started. "Well I'm here to discuss the most important mission any of you will ever face in your lives."

Pinky leaned forward in anticipation. I just slumped over in my chair and yawned again. This didn't sound anything like it would be an easy day. Putting up with Doofenshmirtz sounded easier than some big important mission.

"It occurred to me the other day that this organization was established to stop evil." Monogram continued. "And we send you agents off to stop evil every day. But every day you each fight the same nemesis, and never even come to bring them to authorities or anything. There are much more evil forces in the world outside of your individual enemies. But we have limited agents, so we can't fight all the evil in the world at the same time."

I had no idea what Monogram was rambling on about, or where he was going with all this, but it didn't sound very interesting to me. All the other agents seemed pretty excited though.

"That is why I have come to the conclusion that instead of fighting the same person over and over again every day, you agents need to move on to bigger causes." Major Monogram said.

Bigger causes? This was starting to sound like the time I got reassigned to The Regurgitator. What was Monogram going to do? Make me switch my nemesis again? Well I guess I didn't blame him for that. He was using me, his highest ranked, most heavily skilled agent against Doofenshmirtz, one of the lowest threat villains in the entire Tri-State Area.

"So I've decided that if each and every one of you moves on from your regular nemesis, then we can help stop a lot more evil through out the world! Or at least Danville…" Monogram announced.

"Is he saying that we're all getting new enemies to fight?" I whispered to Pinky, a little hopeful that he wasn't. I truthfully didn't want a new nemesis. I actually kind of liked fighting Doofenshmirtz.

"I think so." Pinky said. "I really hope so, then I'll never have to put up with that uptight selfish retard Professor PoofenPlotz again!"

"Good. I'll never have to put up with my annoying, stupid, imbecile of a nemesis ever again!" I said, trying to sound thrilled. I really didn't mean that, I just didn't want to sound like a wimp in front of Pinky. He'd probably laugh at me if he knew that I actually sort of liked my nemesis.

A lot of the animals were whispering to each other, so Major Monogram had to get them all to settle down again. "Yes, I'm saying what you think I'm saying." Monogram continued. "Everyone must destroy their nemesis!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Perry's POV**

All of the agents shouted and howled in glee. Pinky was cheering too. All of the agents, except me. Did he just say what I thought he said? Destroy our enemies? I would never be able to do that! I thought our agency was supposed to be helping people, not destroying them. Even if they are evil, it's still wrong. I was truly shocked. I never wanted anything like this to happen. Sure, Doofenshmirtz could be annoying at times, but I would never want to kill him. I actually sort of liked, even…loved…Doofenshmirtz. Pinky must have noticed that I wasn't cheering like the other agents, because he suddenly stopped barking in excitement and looked at me with concern.

"What's the matter Perry?" Pinky asked.

"This isn't right. I don't want to destroy my nemesis." I said.

"But I thought you said Doofenshmirtz was an annoying stupid imbecile." Pinky said. "Don't you want to be rid of him?"

I shook my head. "I know he's annoying at times, and really, really stupid, but I could never kill him. He's my frenemy." I confessed, hanging my head.

Suddenly, little compartments in the big round table opened up in front of each agent. Little ray guns appeared. I guessed Monogram was providing them so we could destroy our enemies a lot easier. All the other agents took them enthusiastically, but I refused. "No, this is wrong!" I suddenly shouted, but maybe a little too loudly. Everyone in the room quieted down and started at me in confusion. It was making me feel a little uneasy; I hated being the center of attention. Major Monogram couldn't understand us, because, duh, we're animals, but he must have noticed that I was suddenly the focus of attention, since he was staring at me now too.

"What's wrong Agent P?" Monogram asked.

I made a chattering noise which Major Monogram couldn't understand, indicating that I really couldn't talk. I felt I had to remind him sometimes. The Major pulled out a microphone and slid it across the table to me. "Here Agent P," he said. "Use this special communication microphone so I can understand you."

I took the microphone and started talking into it.

"Look, sir, I know you're doing this to stop more evil, but it just isn't right!" I said. "You founded this agency to prevent evil, correct? Well you're going against all that you stand for with this mission. Those evil scientists are innocent people, they don't deserve to be executed just because they're a little bit evil! Who's the real villain here?"

All the other agents stared at me again, some with disgust, some with anger, some with just plain uncertainty.

"Agent P," Monogram started. "I understand that you have more 'special' feelings for Doofenshmirtz, but you have to let go of this frenemy stuff already…"

All the other agents started howling. Just about every agent in the room was laughing at me! A bunch of the agents started chanting 'Perry loves his nemesis!' which got everyone snickering much harder. I felt my face turn flaming red, mostly because this was so humiliating, but partly because of how furious at everyone I was. How could they laugh at me? I was only trying to make a point, why was I suddenly a laughing stalk because Monogram mentioned the word 'frenemy'? Why was it such a bad thing to be best friends with your enemy? I glanced over at Pinky, who was just about the only one in the room that wasn't howling with laughter. He was glaring at all the other agents, and actually growling at some of them. At least Pinky was sticking up for me.

I growled in rage and yelled into the microphone. "Can everyone PLEASE shut up? I was TRYING to make a point here!"

"What's the point?" Agent D shouted back. "That you love Doofenshmirtz?" he said, which got everyone snickering again.

"IT'S NOT ABOUT DOOFENSHMIRTZ!" I yelled as loud as I could, which got everyone in the room to stop laughing abruptly. I rarely ever yell, so when I did it was really the ideal way to get people's attention. But I got a little uncomfortable by the sudden silence, and felt all the eyes in the room fall back on me. I gulped, but continued anyway. "The point is, we shouldn't just go out killing all these innocent people just because they're bent over taking over Danville. Sure they're evil, but they don't deserve to die because of that. They still are innocent people, they have families, and friends, and children. They can't be all evil! They can still change!" I said.

No one said a word for a while. You could have heard a pin drop in the room if it wasn't for my heavy nervous breathing. Major Monogram was the one who broke the silence.

"You do make a good point Agent P, but I'm afraid we have to carry out this mission. It's for the good of the Tri State Area." he said.

"It's not for the good of anything!" I shouted back at him furiously. Why was he not getting this through his thick skull? "I'm not going to kill my nemesis!" I said.

"I don't think it was a choice Agent P!" Monogram scolded. "Either take the gun, or you're fired from the agency!"

I was taken a little off guard. My boss had never threatened to fire me, he never even so much as yelled at me before. I was hesitant, but I followed my boss's orders anyway. I had no choice. "Yes, sir." I said unwillingly. I dropped the animal-translating microphone and hastily grabbed the ray gun that was meant for me. I turned around and flashed a quick glance towards Pinky, who was hanging his head in shame, disappointed that I had lost the argument. I was a little relieved that _everyone_ in this room wasn't crazy. At least someone agreed with me.

"Now who's ready to be rid of their nemesis once and for all!" Major Monogram announced. All the animals cheered again, all except me.

After that, Monogram ordered all the agents to carry out their mission, and everybody left excitedly. I reluctantly dragged my self out, staring at the ray gun in my hands, a look of shock and despair spread across my face. I heard Pinky run over to catch up with me. I don't know how I recognized his silent little Chihuahua footsteps behind me out of all the other animal feet trampling by. I guess it's just an instinct to notice all the little stuff like that.

"Hey Perry." he greeted me. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened back there. I thought you made a really good point!"

"You really think I made a good point?" I asked uncertainly. It was hard to tell if he was just saying that to try and make me feel better or if he really meant it.

"Of course you did! Major Monogram is wrong! We shouldn't just destroy innocent people, even if they are evil." Pinky said.

I didn't say anything.

"And you're not going to, are you Perry?" Pinky said.

"You know me well, Pinky. Of course I'm not. I don't care if I get fired. Doofenshmirtz means a lot more to me than my job. I couldn't just destroy him, he's my best friend!" I said with more determination than ever, dropping the ray gun to the ground.

"I'm with you Perry!" Pinky said, dropping his gun as well.

"Thanks for supporting me Pinky," I said. "But I don't want you to go rebellious and lose your job like me. Be a good little agent and follow orders." I ordered the Chihuahua. Just because I was going against my boss, doesn't mean Pinky should too. I'd be devastated if Pinky got in trouble because he followed my actions.

Pinky sighed. "Alright. I'll follow orders. But I'm still helping you, whether you like it or not!" he said, grabbing the ray gun again. "Professor Poofenplotz will be easy. As soon as I'm done with her, I'll try to help you hide Doofenshmirtz."

I was still a little reluctant for anyone to be killed, not just Doofenshmirtz. I heard Poofenplotz was a real whack-job, but she didn't deserve to die either. But I didn't mention anything. As I said, I'd hate myself if Pinky got in trouble for failing his mission.

Without another word, Pinky grabbed his jet pack and headed off. "Best of Luck!" he shouted to me before he was out of earshot. I gave a half-hearted solute, and was about to head back to Danville as well, when I suddenly remembered something.

I quickly and silently dashed back into the O.W.C.A. base and grabbed the animal-translating microphone. I figured it might come in handy. It was really annoying to write down what I had to say on paper when ever I wanted to talk, and I had way too much explaining to do to Doofenshmirtz for that. I also grabbed the ray gun I dropped, and stored both in my trusty fedora. When I was sure no one had been watching or following me, I grabbed my jet pack and headed towards Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc.

***

~DOOFENSHMIRTZ EVIL INCORPERATEEEEEEEED~

I stood in front of the door labeled 'Doof', debating what to do. I held the ray gun in my hands, and was still considering using it. This was the hardest decision I ever had to make. Save my job, or my best friend. I know most of you back home are rooting for me to save my nemesis, but I couldn't disobey my boss either. A flash back started playing in my head of all the good times we had spent together. When Doofenshmirtz made me laugh with all his goofy schemes, and all the times he blew himself up. All the crazy back stories that I never failed to listen too. I remembered the times we ended up getting along, and helping each other, the times I was Doof's shoulder to cry on, and vice-versa. I stared at the ray gun in my hands, the ray gun I was supposed to use to kill my best friend. I now knew that the one person who decided his fate, was me. I felt a small tear trickle down my face and drip off the end of my bill. Would I be able to destroy Doofenshmirtz, after all we'd been through?


	3. Chapter 3

**Perry's POV**

I didn't really want to break down the door today. It would really be adding insult to injury since I was sent here to kill Doof anyway. And I really didn't have the energy to make a grand entrance today. Luckily, the knob turned when I twisted it, and I opened the unlocked door and walked inside. I was greeted by my nemesis, who was surprised but just the slightest bit delighted to see me, as always.

"Oh hello, Perry the Platypus!" the doctor said in the high-pitched German accent I had come to love. "What an unforeseen visit…and by unforeseen of course I mean—"

Doofenshmirtz stopped himself when his gaze fell on me. I didn't blame him. I must have looked terribly depressed and heartbroken. And what would he be thinking about the ray gun in my hands?

"What's the matter Perry the Platypus?" he asked me with concern.

I pointed to him to answer his question. Doof was the matter. He was the one whose fate depended on me, and the one who probably wouldn't make it out of this alive.

"Me? How am I the problem?" Doof asked, truly confused.

I had to explain this to him, whether I wanted to or not. I reached into my fedora and grabbed the animal-translating microphone I had snagged from the O.W.C.A. HQ earlier. I just knew it would come in handy for something. I turned it on, and said 'hello' into the microphone to make sure it was working. Doofenshmirtz looked really surprised to hear my voice for once instead of that dumb chattering noise I always make.

"Hey, you can talk!" Doof said cheerfully. "Is that an animal translator? Dang it! Looks like your agency already has everything. I was going to make one for your birthday…" Doof said disappointedly. Doofenshmirtz glanced down at my expression, and looked shocked for some reason. I wiped my face, which was soaked with tears, and realized that I was crying again. Darn. I really couldn't stand crying in front of my nemesis. It was sort of embarrassing. But on the bright side, Doof usually got into a hugging mood when I was depressed, and I really needed it right now.

"Perry, what's wrong?" he said, kneeling down next me so he could look into my eyes.

I held the microphone to my bill and spoke into it. "I already said, it's you!"

"Me?" Doof asked. "What are you talking about?"

I really didn't want him to know the real reason I was here. What if he got scared? What if he hated me for trying to kill him? What if he never talked to me again? But I took a deep breath, and confessed. "I was sent here by Major Monogram to destroy you." I said.

At first, his eyes went wide and he looked really stunned and even traumatized by this sudden truth. But his look of astonishment turned to a look of concern when he looked back down at me. I must have been crying again.

Doofenshmirtz tried to hug me but I pushed him away. This even surprised me. I had never rejected a hug before, especially from my beloved nemesis. But I couldn't hug him today. It would just make me back out from killing him, which I was trying to force my self to do. I pulled out my ray gun, and aimed it straight for his head. Doofenshmirtz started backing up slowly, holding out his now trembling hands in surrender. I fired, but missed and the lethal ray beamed past his him, just inches away from hitting his shoulder. It burned a little hole straight through the wall! Doofenshmirtz backed up some more, and for the first time in his life he looked like he was actually afraid of me.

"P-Perry, what are you doing? You're not actually going to k-kill me…are you?" he stuttered, looking down at me with more terror and distrust in his eyes than ever. I flinched from seeing his sudden fear. This was definitely going to hurt me a lot more than it was going to hurt him.

But I didn't say a word. I just continued to walk towards my nemesis until I had him cornered against the wall. I aimed the ray gun straight for his head, but just couldn't find it in my heart to pull the trigger. No matter how much I tried to force myself, I just couldn't do it. I looked deeply into Doof's vast, innocent dark-blue eyes, and saw immense fear and anxiety in them. He was trembling too. I had never seen my nemesis this frightened before, and I was the one who was scaring him. I suddenly realized what I was doing, and instantly dropped my gun.

"I-I'm so sorry Doofy!" I said into the microphone that was still clutched in my other hand. "I shouldn't have come here! I can't believe I actually tried to kill you!"

My legs suddenly felt heavier, and collapsed underneath me, leaving me sitting on the floor of D.E.I., crying my eyes out. Doofenshmirtz came out of his shock and dropped beside me, attempting to hug me again. I didn't flinch away this time, and Doof took me into his arms and stroked my fur reassuringly. Anyone hugging me, especially Doofenshmirtz, would usually make me purr wildly, but I was way too depressed today. But I still liked the hug. It never failed to make me feel better.

"It's alright Perry! It wasn't your fault, you were ordered to kill me!" Doof said.

"It was my fault, I shouldn't have listened to him. I can't believe I even tried! What kind of a best friend am I?" I said, and continued sobbing.

Doofenshmirtz caressed me tighter. "You're still a great best friend to me! I forgive you for trying to kill me! I try to destroy you like every day…"

I abruptly stopped crying, and a smile spread across my face. "Aw, thanks Doof!" I said. "This is exactly the reason why you shouldn't be destroyed. I don't think I can even really classify you as evil!"

Doof frowned. At first I didn't know why, but then I remembered. He hated when people didn't think of him as evil. He had spent his whole life trying to earn his evil reputation, and it was a little degrading when your nemesis didn't even think you were diabolical anymore. "Thanks a lot, that makes me feel much better…" Doof said sarcastically.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that!" I said quickly, not wanting to make him feel bad. "I meant that you don't act evil towards me is all."

Doofenshmirtz rolled his eyes. "Oh now you're saying that I don't hate you anymore…thanks…" he said.

"Do you want me to get the ray gun back out again?" I said sternly, even though I was only kidding.


	4. Chapter 4

**Pinky's POV**

I was standing at the top floor of the big purple building, in front of the door labeled 'Doof'. I had never actually met Doofenshmirtz before, let alone been to his house. I had never even seen a picture of him before! But Perry had told me all about him. He said that Doofenshmirtz wasn't really that evil, and was actually really nice sometimes, so I don't know why I felt uneasy being here.

My little Chihuahua body was shaking from the fear and anxiety welling up inside me. I was about to turn around and walk away, but I remembered that this was for Perry. I had to help him, and I was determined to help him bring Major Monogram's wrong-doings to justice. When I finally worked up the courage to knock, no one answered. I knocked again, still no answer. I was getting a little frustrated. I didn't want to be rude and bust down the door, even though Perry said his nemesis was used to that. I turned the door knob, and luckily it opened.

I slowly walked inside, my small vulnerable body trembling more than ever. I didn't see anyone. Maybe Perry killed him already. Maybe Perry escaped with him already. Maybe Doofenshmirtz trapped Perry and he tried to destroy him. Maybe the agency found out that Perry was going rebellious and killed them both!

"Hi there Pinky!"

The sudden voice coming from directly in front of me practically made me jump out of my skin! I nearly had a heart attack! I didn't even notice that Perry was right in front of me, I was so wrapped up in my thoughts. Once I caught my breath, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I was just happy to see him alive! But where was Doofenshmirtz? Perry sounded cheerful, so he couldn't be dead. I looked behind Perry, and then for the first time I saw his nemesis.

He actually wasn't that ugly, compared to most evil scientists. At least he looked better than Professor Poofenplotz. He had chestnut-brown hair, which was messy and sticking out all over the place. Dark circles formed around his eyes, making him look tired and restless, and he had a big, long, pointy nose. He was slouching a bit, and he wore a lab coat over a black turtle-neck shirt. I thought it made him look sort of like a pharmacist. But when I looked into his immense dark-blue eyes, I didn't really see any evil in them at all. And I would know, dogs can just sense stuff like that. Over all, he wasn't really that evil looking in any way, but I still couldn't see what Perry saw in him as a friend. I guess you'd have to know him to like him.

I found myself growling instinctively at the doctor. It was just an instinct for dogs to growl at strangers, especially Chihuahuas. We were always alert, since we were so small and helpless. Well, of course since I was a secret agent I wasn't that helpless, but I still kept the instincts.

"Who's your little friend here Perry?" he asked in a high-pitched squeaky accent. Was it German?

Perry grabbed a microphone off the floor. My lips twitched up in a slight smile when I noticed that it was the animal translating microphone from the O.W.C.A. I guess I wasn't surprised that Perry had stolen it. He always comes prepared for anything.

"Pinky, meet Doofenshmirtz, Doofenshmirtz, meet Pinky." he said into the microphone, translating his voice into English so Doofenshmirtz would understand as well.

"Aw, what a cute little dog! Are you from the agency too…" Doof said as he leaned down and tried to pet me.

My secret-agent training kicked in and I grabbed his arm. I swiftly pulled his arm back with all my might and flipped the doctor over my head. He landed with a hard, painful-sounding thud on the floor. I snatched the microphone out of Perry's hands, and spoke into it. "Do NOT call me cute!" I said sternly. He looked pretty beat, so I think I got my point across.

When Doof recovered, he looked back at me, a little more fear and uncertainty in his eyes. "I guess that answers my question if you're from the agency or not…" he said weakly, rubbing his bruised head. "Wow, you're even stronger than Perry! He never flipped me over like that!"

Perry's cheeks suddenly turned bright red. He hated when people thought someone else was a better agent than him. Perry grabbed back the microphone and spoke into it. "He is not stronger than me!" he said quickly, pointing to me. "I could have lifted you up just as easily!"

"Than why didn't you in all the years I've known you?" Doof asked.

"Because, I never wanted to hurt you! Well, I had to sometimes, but I never wanted to hurt you more than necessary." Perry argued.

"R-Really?" Doof asked.

"Course not." Perry said sincerely. "I only had to beat you up because Monogram said so. Do you know how hard it is to get up every morning and have your boss tell you to go fight your best friend? Never mind this morning when he ordered me to kill my best friend!"

"Look, all this frenemy stuff is very touching," I said, grabbing the microphone back. "But I just came here to help Perry. Now how are we going to hide Doofenshmirtz from the agency?" I asked Perry, who looked totally clueless.

"I don't know." he said. "But they'll probably check up on each agent to make sure they killed their enemies already. Did they check to see if you killed Professor Poofenplotz yet?" he asked.

I dropped the microphone and looked down at my feet sheepishly. "Yeah, here's the thing…I didn't destroy Poofenplotz…" I said.

Perry gasped in shock. "Pinky!" he scolded me. "Do you know how much trouble you could be in now? I told you to follow orders!"

"Yeah, well you didn't follow orders either!" I scowled at him.

Doofenshmirtz was just staring at us, arguing back and forth. I didn't know why the evil scientist looked so confused, but then I realized that all he could hear was chattering and barking when we didn't have the animal translating microphone. "Hmm, I have an idea!" Doof announced suddenly, grabbing the microphone from off the floor and heading into the other room.

Perry and I seized our bickering and exchanged confused glances. What was Doofenshmirtz doing? Perry apparently didn't know either. A few minutes later, Doofenshmirtz came back into the room, with a new device in his hands.

"Here! I combined the animal-translating microphone with one of my old ray guns! I created a ray gun that will make you two talk like humans! That way it will be much easier for me to understand and you don't have to fight over the microphone when one of you wants to speak!" he said.

I thought it sounded pretty cool! I was amazed! How did Doofenshmirtz build that so fast? He was even faster than Perry's owners! He must be a lot smarter than he looks. Perry's real lucky to have a great nemesis like Doof! My tail started wagging and I was panting in excitement, but Perry didn't look all too happy about the new device. I asked him what was wrong.

"I like the idea and all," Perry said. "But I don't want to talk like a human forever."

"Relax Perry!" I reassured him. "Knowing Doof, there's definitely a reverse switch on there somewhere!"

"Well, alright!" Perry said with more anticipation in his voice. "Works for me!"

Doofenshmirtz zapped us both with the ray gun. I was a little doubtful that it would actually work, but when I tried to bark something about it to Perry, a human voice came out instead!

"Wow! I can talk!" I said joyfully. "Your nemesis is amazing! How did he make that so fast?"

Perry shrugged. "Annoying as he his, Doofy does really come in handy sometimes!"

"Doofy?" I said in confusion. I had never really heard Perry call his nemesis that before. "Since when is his nickname 'Doofy'?" I asked.

"I am right here you know!" Doofy—I mean Doofenshmirtz said. "You can talk to me for once instead of talking to Perry like I'm not even here…"

"Sorry Doofy." I said, snickering a little at my newfound nickname for him.

"Yeah, Pinky's just a little shy." Perry explained.

"Wasn't very shy when he whipped me onto the floor…" I heard Doof mutter under his breath.

There was a sudden loud knock at the door. We all paused our conversation and stood there, frozen in shock. Was that the agency, checking to see if Perry had killed his nemesis yet? Perry and I whipped into stealthy secret agent mode, changing into our defensive positions in front of Doofenshmirtz. When the door burst open, I was prepared to fight.

It was two agents at the door, Agent E (Eagle) and Agent B (Bulldog). It made sense for Major Monogram to send them over. They may be lower ranked agents than Perry and I, but they were bigger and stronger. Monogram knew Perry well, and must have figured that he wouldn't follow orders and destroy Doofenshmirtz, like he was told. He also must be on to me, since I didn't destroy my nemesis either.

I growled, and Perry and I held our protective stances in front of Doofenshmirtz. Keeping him safe was our only priority now.

Suddenly, Agent B pulled out his ray gun and aimed it straight for Doof's head! I tried to tackle him to keep him from firing, but Agent E blocked my path. Perry came up from behind and kicked Agent B in the face, slamming the bulldog back against the wall, and making him drop the gun. Agent E tried to peck me, but I sidestepped and managed to dodge the move. While I was holding off the eagle as best I could, I noticed Perry was struggling with Agent B, who was desperately trying to break free of Perry's grasp and get to his ray gun on the floor. I needed to help him, but Agent E took another swipe at my head with his deadly beak, and I was too busy trying to dodge his attack to help Perry.

All the while, Doofenshmirtz was shivering in fear, standing just a few feet away from the commotion. I could tell he wanted to run, but he looked way too petrified to move. I wondered why he was so scared, Perry was a way more powerful agent than these two bozos put together, and Doof had to fight him everyday. But then I remembered that Perry was obviously going easy on the doctor, since he claimed he was his best friend and he didn't want to really hurt him. I still didn't believe how all that frenemy stuff worked. How could you remember to go easy on your opponent in the middle of a fight? I wouldn't be able to, I get distracted too easily.

Speaking of distraction, while I was caught up in my thoughts Agent E managed to push me to the ground. He held me there, and prevented me from getting up. I whimpered a little, and Perry must have heard me. "Pinky!" he cried, and he forgot about Agent B and darted over to try and help me. But Agent B took the opportunity and snatched his gun, aimed it straight for Doof's head, and fired.

Then Perry did something so stupid and life-endangering that even I never expected him to do. He dived in front of the on-coming laser beam! What was he doing? Was Perry _trying_ to get him self killed? The tiny but lethal laser beam hit Perry in mid-air, and he fell motionlessly to the floor.

"Perry, NO!" Doofenshmirtz shrieked, his eyes growing wide.


	5. Chapter 5

**Pinky's POV**

Nobody moved or said a word. Even the other two assassin agents were speechless. It seemed like the whole world was holding its breath. All I could do was stare at the unmoving platypus body in horror. But miraculously, a few moments later, Perry got up weakly. I let out a enormous sigh of relief. As soon as he got up I could see that, thankfully, the beam had only gotten Perry's arm, which had a small hole in it, and was dripping with crimson blood.

Perry had a distraught but determined expression on his face, and looked like he was still ready to put up a fight, but he quickly fell to his knees when he tried to get up. He let out an agonized whimper of pain and clutched his wounded arm. I growled in fury. Nobody hurt my friend and got away with it! I found a hidden strength rising inside of me that I had never felt before, and I pushed Agent E off of me with all my might. He was slammed back against the wall with a disturbing rib-shattering sound, and the eagle sat there, dazed. Agent B tried to come up behind me and grab my tail but I quickly whipped myself around and bit his paw. He yelped in agony, and I punched him on the nose as hard as I could while I had the chance. He blacked out almost instantly and fell to the floor. I smiled proudly, but I wasn't done fighting yet. Agent E came out of his dizziness and tried to come at me again. I dived towards the floor to evade the action, and I spotted the ray gun the bull dog had dropped just a few feet away from me on the ground. I grabbed it and swiftly hopped back up on my feet, aiming the gun straight for Agent E and firing. I hit him! A little hole was pierced straight through his wing. He squawked in pain as his wing oozed crimson blood. The eagle grabbed Agent B with his talons and used his good wing to feebly fly off in a hasty retreat. I wiped a bead of sweat off my forehead and sighed in triumph. I couldn't believe I had just fought and beaten both agents on my own!

As soon as they were long gone, I scrambled over to the injured platypus and kneeled beside him. He still clutched his bleeding arm, but he didn't look like he was too hurt.

"Perry! Are you alright?" I asked urgently.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Is Doof okay?" he asked anxiously.

I sighed. It was typical for Perry to worry about just about everyone but himself. I knew he was going to be alright.

"Yes Perry. He's fine, thanks to you." I said glancing towards Doof.

Doof suddenly came out of his shock, and darted to Perry's side.

"Oh Perry! Thank you so much for saving me!" he cried, scooping up Perry in his arms and hugging him. I knew they were best friends, but I had never seen Perry and Doofenshmirtz hug before. I never thought it was possible for enemies to love each other that much.

Doofenshmirtz continued to cuddle Perry, who began purring in unison. Blood still trickled down Perry's arm, staining his nemesis's lab coat. Doofenshmirtz didn't seem to mind though, and Perry didn't seem to mind the pain of his wound either. They were both just happy to see each other alive. I thought it was the most adorable sight I had ever seen! I never thought enemies could hug each other with out it being awkward or uncomfortable for them. I guess Perry and Doof loved each other more than I ever imagined.

Perry broke their hug, and clutched his arm again. Doofenshmirtz set him down and rushed to the bathroom to grab something to wrap his injured arm in. He came out with some surgical tape, and together we wrapped up our friend's wound until it stopped bleeding. Perry stretched his arm and wriggled it around with almost no pain at all.

"Good as new! I can barely feel it anymore!" he said.

Then suddenly Perry gave me an unexpected hug.

"Thanks so much for saving me back there! I would have been a goner if it wasn't for you!" he said thankfully.

"No prob." I said. "You would have done the same for me."

"Okay, now that that's settled, what are we going to do now?" Doof asked. "If Monogram sent those guys over to destroy me, then when they go back to the agency to tell him that they failed, he'll send more agents over to destroy all of us!"

"Doofenshmirtz has a point." Perry said. "We need to get out of here!"

I got a sudden idea.

"Oh! I know someone else that can help us hide out until we convince the agency that they're wrong!" I declared, cheerful to help.

"You do?" Perry asked. "But all the other agents agreed with Major Monogram besides us…"

"I know another agent that didn't go to the meeting." I said. "He's not assigned to a nemesis right now, so Monogram didn't call him to the meeting today. I'm sure he'd love to help us!" I said.

"Great!" Perry said. "Where does he live?"

"Seattle." I said.

Doofenshmirtz and Perry exchanged glances.

"Is this agent a panda by any chance?" Doofenshmirtz asked suspiciously.

"Yeah!" I declared. "Why? You know him?"

Perry and Doof both nodded.

"I'm sorry Pinky. I've had a little quarrel with Peter in the past. He probably hates me for taking my nemesis back. I doubt he'd ever want to help me." Perry explained.

Oh yeah, now I remembered. Perry had told me all about the time when he got replaced by Peter the Panda. But Peter wouldn't be mad, would he? I mean, Doof was the one who replaced Perry in the first place, so it wasn't Perry's or Peter's fault. And Perry and Doof were nemeses from the start, so Peter wouldn't hold a grudge against Perry for taking him back.

"Oh please Perry!" I pleaded. "Just give him a shot! I'm sure he'd forgive you!"

Perry was hesitant for a moment, but then he sighed.

"Fine. But how are we supposed to get all the way from Danville to Seattle, Washington? That's all the way across the country!" Perry exclaimed.

I thought for a moment, but I couldn't think of anything. But then, I don't know if it was just the dog instincts kicking in or not, but two glorious words came to mind.

"ROAD TRIP!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Doofenshmirtz's POV**

So the two agents and I set off to head for Seattle. If the agency was out to destroy me, than I guess Perry and Pinky were wanted fugitives too now for trying to help me escape. That meant we had to get out of the Tri-State Area as soon as possible.

I didn't really have a car, so we took my robot Norm instead. I know what you're thinking, how are we supposed to travel to Seattle via robot, but Norm could transform into a car, like a Transformer or something. I really should get to reading his manual sometime.

When we got Norm into car form, I climbed into the driver's seat.

"Hey, can I drive!" Pinky said excitedly, shoving me out of the way and hopping behind the wheel.

"No you can't drive Pinky!" Perry scolded him. "You don't even know how."

"Yeah I do!" Pinky argued.

"Since when?" Perry said.

"There was a driving class they made me take when I was still in training."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that…" Perry said. "But you still can't legally drive! You don't even have a license!"

"Yeah, well neither do you!" Pinky pointed out.

"I'm qualified to drive a banana truck," Perry said. "I think I'm licensed to drive a car with you two fruitcakes."

I pushed both agents out of my way and climbed back into the driver's seat.

"I'm driving!" I said sternly.

"Why do you get to drive?" Pinky asked me, aggravation in his voice.

"Because, it's my car!" I said.

"Robot." Perry corrected me.

"Car, robot, whatever!" I said.

"This robot has a name you know!" Norm suddenly added.

"Oh shut it Norm!" I said. "Who asked you?"

"I thought you didn't have a license to drive a robot with more than two axels." Perry said.

"Yeah I do! I got it all licensed." I said.

Perry just stared at me. I knew he didn't believe me.

"Fine, I don't." I admitted. "But we're already wanted fugitives! I don't think having a registered vehicle is the worst of our problems right now."

"Fine." Perry said. "You can drive."

"Alright but if Doof gets to drive then I call shotgun!" Pinky announced, running over to the other side of the car (robot) and hopping in.

"We're both little animals." Perry said. "I think we'll both be able to fit in the passenger's seat."

Pinky growled, but agreed. "Fine, but I at least get the window side!"

Once the animal agents were comfortable, I put the key in the ignition and started driving. I went as fast as I could without drawing attention to my self. The last thing we wanted was to get caught by the agency, but I also didn't want to get a speeding ticket and go to jail for not being licensed to drive Norm. It took a while, but we finally reached the highway without being spotted. As soon as the car sped up, Pinky stuck his head out the window. Dogs. Why did they always have to be so weird and annoying?

"Uh, Pinky…" I said.

"What?" Pinky said, but I could just barely make it out since his mouth was wide open with the wind rushing through his cheeks. He licked up a big drop of drool and pulled his head back in.

"If you stick your head out the window we might be spotted by someone from the agency." I said. "And we're supposed to try and stay inconspicuous. I think some people will give us some double takes if they see a Chihuahua covered from ear to chin in doggie slobber with his cheeks flapping back sticking his head out the side of the car…"

"Oh, right, sorry…" Pinky said sheepishly, closing the window.

I continued driving for quite a while after that. No one really said a word, and the car ride was starting to get really boring. I couldn't bear the excruciating silence! I was so bored and exhausted and stressed out of my head I thought I might just pass out on the steering wheel at any given moment! The only thing keeping me from falling asleep was the fact that my mind was racing at about a hundred miles per second. I was really lost up in my thoughts. I mean, Major Monogram had just sent my nemesis over to kill me! That's not a very easy thing to live with. Do you know how terrifyingly shocking and unexpected it is for your best friend to suddenly be holding a gun to your head? Exactly. But I knew the second he had the gun in his hand that he wasn't going to shoot. I mean if I had to choose between keeping my job as an evil scientist or sparing Perry's life, I'm pretty sure you'd know what I would pick. And no, I wouldn't choose my job! Of course I'd choose Perry. My schemes meant absolutely nothing to me without him to foil them. I wouldn't be able to stand it if someone just suddenly ordered me to shoot him. I'm still not sure how Perry didn't punch Monobrow out as soon as he commanded him to do that. I would've if I was my nemesis. Didn't Monobrow understand that we were frenemies? Anyone who knows me and Perry and had no clue about us being best friends must be either retarded or blind. And Monogram must be retarded, because who would just suddenly send all their agents on a murder mission? I thought he was the good guy! Since when were evil scientists such a threat to the world that they all had to be executed? Was Monobrow even using his brain at all today!

So that was one reason I was so stressed. The other thought that kept orbiting my mind was the fact that we were all fugitives now. I still didn't understand why Perry was in trouble. Why was he suddenly the bad guy for trying to save my life? I hoped Pinky wasn't in trouble too, just for helping us. Pinky was innocent. He didn't deserve to be in trouble just for helping Perry help me. Then again, Perry and I were innocent too. I glanced over at the two agents in the passenger seat. Perry was leaned against the seat, already dozing off. I didn't blame him. He must be really beat from trying to save my life all day. Plus he was probably still in pain from that big hole in his arm. I felt really sorry for my nemesis. He got hurt saving my life. He was lucky he didn't get killed! I still couldn't believe he did that for me. Why would anyone want to risk their own life just to save me of all people? Me, a scrawny, weak, helpless low-life loser who had such a horrible past and love life that he spends the rest of his miserable existence thinking up pointless evil schemes that ultimately fail. I still didn't understand how someone as worthless as myself ever even ended up with a great friend like Perry. I don't know what he sees in me as a friend, but I was enormously grateful to him for saving my life. I just hoped he wasn't as stressed and restless as I was right then. He didn't deserve to worry too much. Especially for me.

I glanced away from my sleeping nemesis and shifted my anxious and drowsy glance towards Pinky. He wasn't asleep, but he looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion. I felt especially sorry for him. Perry saw me as his best friend, and even considered me family. He had a reason for trying to protect me. But Pinky was only here to support Perry. He had a family and owners of his own to get back to; he shouldn't be here risking his life and job to help save me, who he just met today. Pinky yawned suddenly, and sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly feeling concerned for the innocent little agent. He really looked depressed.

"I really miss my owner, Isabella…" Pinky sad despondently, hanging his tiny head. He pulled a small photo out of his hat and showed it to me. It was a picture of a cute little girl, with flowing black hair and a big pink bow on her head. I felt sorry for Pinky. His owner must be going crazy searching for him, thinking he must have run away or something.

"You know, you don't have to stay and travel with us." I said. "Perry and I will be fine on our own. We always are! I don't want you to feel pressured to be here when you could be safely back home with your owner."

"I'm here with Perry because I'm supporting him. And besides, if I went back to Monogram now that he knows that I didn't destroy my nemesis either, I'll lose my job! It'll be better to stick here with you and Perry until everything straightens out." Pinky explained, but still sounded mournful and miserable. He glanced back at the picture and sighed in anguish.

I cautiously reached my hand over my nemesis in an attempt to pet the little Chihuahua reassuringly. But I stopped myself and pulled my hand away quickly. "You're not going to flip me over or anything if I try and pet you again, are you?" I asked nervously.

"No." he said calmly. "I only did that before because I was scared and didn't really know you. Now that I realize that you aren't so bad a guy, I'm not really frightened. Besides, I couldn't flip you over in this car anyways." Pinky flashed me a small grin. I smiled back.

I carefully reached my hand over and pet Pinky on the head. His fur felt surprisingly soft, well not as soft as Perry's, but for a dog's fur it was pretty soft. It actually felt pretty…soothing to run my fingers through his short velvety coat. After a few moments, I was surprised that he was panting instead of purring which I was more used too. I had to keep reminding myself that I was petting a dog, not a platypus. I pulled my arm away, careful not to wake Perry, and turned my attention back to the road.

"Don't worry Pinky." I said supportively. "Every thing will be fine! Perry can get us out of all this, and you'll both be back with your families in no time flat!"

Pinky smiled. "I really hope so." He said, but with just the slightest bit more optimism in his voice than before. After a few moments, he gazed over in my direction, and looked me over briefly. "Why do you look so sad Doof?" he asked with concern. "Do you miss your family too?"

"I don't really have much of a family." I admitted. "Besides my daughter, but it's not my weekend with her anyways."

"Perry's your family." Pinky said, glancing at the resting platypus. "At least you still have him."

"Yeah, thank goodness for that." I said. "I don't know what I'd ever do without him…"

It was silent for a while after that besides the rushing sound of cars speeding by us on the peaceful highway. I noticed that the sky was darkening quite a bit. I hadn't even been paying attention to how late it had gotten. What time was it? 6:00? 7:00? Hours must go by pretty quickly when you're running from an entire organization of secret undercover animals and you're now living as fugitives trying to drive across the country by robot. I yawned, and was just about to shut my eyes and drift off when I jolted my self back into consciousness. I had to keep reminding myself that I was driving. These innocent little agents were already risking their very lives to help defend me, I didn't want to jeopardize them anymore by getting into a reckless car accident just because I wasn't paying attention. But I was just so drowsy from the terrible day I'd been having. I yawned sleepily.

"You look pretty tired...you want me to drive for a while?" Pinky suggested.

I wanted so badly to just lay back and let the wonderful, serene feeling of unconsciousness wash over me so I could sleep off all this stress and worry. But Pinky looked tired too, I just couldn't let him take over driving.

"You can't drive, you're a dog! Your feet don't even reach the gas petal!" I pointed out.

Pinky pulled out two blocks of wood that were just long enough to reach from his feet to the gas petal and brake petal. Did he even have those with him earlier?

"Agents always come prepared!" Pinky said.

I pulled over and climbed over to the back seat. Pinky shifted over to the driver's seat and started driving. I was a little surprised at how well the Chihuahua could drive; then again, he was an agent. I spread out on the backseat of the car and laid my head down. It was kind of chilly since I didn't have a blanket, and a little uncomfortable, but I was so exhausted I hardly noticed. It didn't take long for me to peacefully drift off and finally fall asleep. I was just happy that this dreadful day was finally over.


	7. Chapter 7

**Carl's POV**

"You stupid worthless agents! How could you fail me like this?"

I heard Monogram shouting at Agent E and Agent B from the other room. I hated it when he shouted like that. Why was he so mad at the poor little agents? Did they fail their mission? All they had to do was head over to Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. and make sure that Perry destroyed his nemesis. How could they have failed? Unless…Perry didn't destroy his nemesis. I secretly hoped that that was the case. I suppose you all expect me to be a good little intern and agree with my boss on this one, but strangely, I didn't agree with Major Monogram at all this time. I thought Perry was 100% right. I don't understand how those evil scientists are so much of a threat that they need to be destroyed. Especially Doofenshmirtz. Monogram even said himself that Doofenshmirtz was a minor threat. And I really don't think he's evil. I mean, how could someone who doesn't even hate his nemesis be evil? He even admitted to Perry being his best friend! (Don't ask how I know this. I just…do a lot of research. And before you accuse me of stalking him let me just remind you that he somehow knew that I dress up as Doctor Coconut, so who's stalking who here?)

So anyways, back to the point, Doofenshmirtz and all of those other evil scientists are innocent, no matter what my boss says. But it may just be too late for all of them. Unless Perry didn't follow orders, and he didn't destroy Doofenshmirtz, and he's evacuating Danville trying to protect him from the wrath of the agents as I speak. But there was very slim chance of that. Major Monogram already sent out two of his best agents to destroy Agent P, I don't think he could have possibly made it out alive…

"Carl! Where's that blasted animal translator! I need to know what happened to these two agents, stat!"

I heard Monogram calling me from the other room. I quickly fumbled around, but I couldn't find the animal-translating microphone anywhere. I sighed and dashed into a storage closet to grab a spare one. I darted over to my boss and handed him the device.

"Ah, thanks Carl. Now go back to work on checking the perimeter for evil activity!" he ordered me.

"Yes sir!" I responded, marching out of the room and back to my computer. But I kept a close ear on what Major Monogram was saying to the agents in the other room. I needed any clue, any slightest bit of hope I could get just so I could at least know that Agent P was still alive. And hopefully Dr. Doofenshmirtz too.

As I was eavesdropping, I heard an unfamiliar couple of voices. It must have been Agent E and Agent B using the translator. I kept as quite as I could and continued listening.

"We're sorry sir." said a high screechy voice that I assumed was Agent E. "But that little Chihuahua was just too fast for us! I mean, just look at what he did to Agent B! And my wing!"

"Wait, Chihuahua?" I heard my boss say suspiciously. "I thought I sent you two out to get a platypus!"

"You did," said a deeper voice that must have been Agent B. "And we almost destroyed his nemesis too, but that platypus jumped in the way! Then that little Chihuahua just came out of no where and started beating us up! It was crazy!"

"Did you destroy Agent P at least?" Monogram asked.

"We think so." Agent E said. "I know we shot him! He must be dead!"

I gasped in shock. No, it couldn't be true! Agent P…dead? All my last bits of hope faded away. How could Major Monogram do this? He's trying to do good, but he's killing off his own agents in the process! I couldn't take it! This had gone way too far! I couldn't take orders from someone who destroyed Agent P anymore!

And wait, did he say Chihuahua? Was Agent Pinky from Wanda's division there too? Oh, if he killed that poor little Chihuahua too…THAT'S IT! No more Mr. Nice intern!

I bundled up all my courage and marched straight over to my boss.

"Major Monogram! I have something to say about all this!" I said sternly.

"Oh, Carl! Thank goodness! Look, we've got a problem! Two problems, actually. It seems Agent P was destroyed, but Doofenshmirtz still remains alive. And to make matters worse, another agent, Agent Pinky to be accurate, has gone rebellious against us. I need you to send out all the best agents we have left to destroy them both!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" I said instinctively. Why did I say that? Was I really that much of a coward that I couldn't even stand up to my own boss? Come on Carl! Stand up for your self for once!

"But, sir…" I managed to say. "What happened to Agent P?"

"Oh, I'm sorry we had to do this, but he was destroyed." Monogram said shamefully. "He had it coming though. Going against orders and injuring other agents is one thing, but trying to hold fugitives is another! He was already on charge for execution, so it was for the better."

I was so angry! Destroying Agent P wasn't for the better of anything! He was just trying to save his best friend's life, why did they have to kill him, WHY? A few tears streamed down my cheek, but I didn't want my boss to see. If he knew I was on Perry's side, I'd be fired, and then I'd lose any hope of knowing that Pinky and Doofenshmirtz made it out of this mess alive. I gave a quick solute and ran away before anyone could see me crying my eyes out.

I continued mourning over Agent P for a few hours. When I finally ran out of tears, I looked up and realized that it was already 9:00! How long had I been crying? I quickly fumbled around on my computer and struggled to complete my mission. I had to find some more agents to send after Pinky and Dr. D, but who would I send? There was no other trust worthy agents that I could use! I didn't want the two fugitives to be destroyed, but I couldn't just skip out on sending agents after them or I'd be fired! I sighed, and reluctantly made an announcement to all of the agents in the head quarters.

"Attention all secret agents!" I announced through the intercom. "We need every one of our agents to help us out here! This is a code red situation! We have two fugitives, Pinky the Chihuahua and Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz on the move here! We need you to seek out and destroy both of them at all costs!"

I heard a bunch of cheering and shrieks of delight and excitement throughout the building. Why was everyone here so thrilled when they got sent on a murder mission? This was wrong. I wished I didn't have to make that announcement. Now Agent Pinky and Doofenshmirtz will be goners for sure! I wished there was some way, any way I could help, or at least some way I could still know they were alive. I really wished that Perry was still alive. Why did he have to get shot? WHY?

Wait, get shot? I just remembered one minor but excruciating detail from what Agent B had said earlier. He had said that they _thought_ Perry was dead, since they shot him. But what if he had made it out alive? What if the shot wasn't lethal? What if there was still hope for the little platypus and his friends after all? I knew it was a slim chance, but I had to cling onto the smallest little speck of hope I had left. I darted over to my computer and opened the software to Agent P's video phone feature on his wrist watch. If I could access it, then maybe if Perry's still alive and answers the call, I can track down the location of the signal! And since Perry tends to stick together with Doofenshmirtz, that means I'll most likely find his location as well! And probably Pinky's! You know, given that Perry's even alive anyway. But I had to have faith.

I quickly made a video call to Perry's watch, and waited anxiously for someone to answer it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Perry's POV**

Bee-beep.  
Bee-beep.  
Bee-beep.

I was sleeping peacefully on top of Phineas's stomach when my wrist watch alarm started going off. I just laid there, half asleep, trying to recalculate the impossibly crazy dream I had just had. But the beeping became more insistent, so I opened my eyes and woke up.

But I was really astounded at the entirely different scene I took in. I wasn't at home, safely dozing off on my owner's stomach. I was on the road, still in the car/robot Norm, with Pinky driving. And I realized that I wasn't on Phineas's stomach at all, but my nemesis's! He was spread out on the back seat of the vehicle, resting calmly with me lying on his stomach, one of his arms supporting his head, the other wrapped around me. It wasn't a dream at all. I groaned. This meant that we were all really fugitives and running away from Major Monogram, who was still trying to destroy all three of us. But then why was my wrist watch beeping?

I was edgy at first, because I knew my former boss could track down my location easily if I answered it, but it seemed louder and more annoying with each beep. I really didn't want to wake up my nemesis, and I didn't have time to smash it, so I answered the call reluctantly. I was prepared to hang up the call immediately when I saw the face of major Monogram, but instead of him his little intern friend Carl surprising showed up on the miniature screen.

The unpaid intern looked really stressed and panicked for some reason, but he let out an enormous sigh of relief when he saw my puzzled expression.

"Agent P!" he cried with delight. "You're alive!"

"Carl?" I said in a hushed whisper. "Why are you calling me? Is this a trap? Did Monogram put you up to this?"

Carl gasped again. "Wow Agent P! How are you talking?" he asked in astonishment.

"Oh, Doofenshmirtz made a device to make Pinky and me talk like humans." I explained.

"Oh! Speaking of them! Please tell me Pinky and Dr. Doofenshmirtz are still alive!" Carl pleaded, looking more worried than ever. I was a little confused and suspicious about all this. Why was Carl, the unpaid, underappreciated little intern of my ex-boss suddenly concerned about my nemesis and an agent from another division? This just had to be a trap. But I answered him anyway.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "They're fine, see!" I said, holding up the wristwatch to show him both my sleeping nemesis that held me in his arms and the Chihuahua in the driver's seat. The teenaged boy let out another huge sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. I figured all three of you would be dead by now." he said. Dead by now? What was he talking about?

"Carl, if Major Monogram put you up to this…" I started.

"Oh, no, no! I swear this isn't a trap!" he said sincerely. "I'm not even supposed to be talking to you right now! But I want to help! I agree with every word you said back there, what my boss is doing is totally wrong! Listen, I'm afraid that a whole hoard of agents is coming after you as we speak, but I want to do all I can to help you!"

I looked in his eyes through his purple rimmed glasses, and I sensed that he wasn't lying. He truly did want to help us out.

"I, I believe you." I said. "Look, thanks for wanting to help. But I'm already putting enough of my loved ones in danger right now. I don't need you going rebellious too."

He didn't answer. He just sighed disappointedly. Then his gaze fell on one of my arms, the one with the cast on it.

"Agent P! Your arm! What happened to it?" he asked with concern.

I sighed, not really wanting a reminder of it. It already hurt badly enough, reminding me of the pain wasn't doing it any better.

"I got hurt trying to save Doof." I admitted.

"That's terrible! You're lucky to have escaped with your life!" Carl said.

"I know, it was a very reckless thing to do. But my nemesis is alright. That's all that really matters to me." I said contentedly, turning the wrist watch towards Doof again to show Carl that he was sleeping peacefully.

"Good." Carl said, sounding just as happy and relieved as I was. "I knew you wouldn't have the heart to destroy him."

"Of course not." I said. "I would never want to just wipe my nemesis from existence. Monogram must be out of his mind for trying to make me do that!"

"Yeah, he is. And for the first time, I don't agree with him." Carl said, a little more bravery and optimism in his voice now. "And I don't care if I'm risking my unpaid job, I'm going to help you guys in any way I can!"

Carl wished me luck, and hung up the video phone before I even had a chance to say goodbye. It was great that more people were starting to help us, and more people were seeing things from my point of view, but I still didn't want everyone to ruin their lives for us. I knew Doofy and I could make it out of this on our own, and finally prove that Major Monogram was wrong. Though the extra support was helpful, it still made me feel a little guilty on the inside.

Speaking of our extra support, Pinky must have been listening to out video phone conversation, because I noticed him smirking through the rear view mirror. "So, we got Carl on our side now too, huh?" he said smugly, but tried to keep his voice in a hushed whisper so he didn't wake Doof.

"Yeah. I can't believe he was so concerned about us though. I feel a little guilty having everyone trying to help me and Doofy, though. It's interfering and even endangering their lives, especially yours!" I exclaimed.

"Don't worry about me Perry!" he said encouragingly. "It's just like you to worry about everyone else but yourself."

"Well when you have as many people to worry about as I do you never find any time to stop worrying." I said, which made Pinky laugh.

I glanced at the time on my wrist watch. It was just past 9:00 pm. I realized Pinky had been driving for quite a while.

"If you're tired, I'll drive for a while." I suggested.

"I'm fine." Pinky claimed, but yawned while he said this. "I'm not that tired. You can go back to sleep if you don't want to drive."

"Nah, I'm already wide awake anyways." I said. "I'll take over. You really need some rest."

Pinky pulled over on the side of the never-ending highway, and scooted over to the passenger seat. I carefully wriggled my way out from underneath of Doof's arm, careful not to wake him. I had a lot of experience doing this, since I sneak out of Phineas and Ferb's arms a lot when I get unexpectedly called to my base while they're still sleeping. I climbed over to the driver's seat, and started driving down the long, dark, barely visible stretch of road ahead of us.


	9. Chapter 9

**Doofenshmirtz's POV**

"Wakey, wakey, Doofy!"

I slowly blinked open my eyes to the sound of Perry's new human voice. Once my eyes adjusted, I noticed that Perry the Platypus was standing on my stomach, trying to wake me up. My memory suddenly came back to me, and I suddenly remembered where I was. Perry, Pinky, and I were still on the road, wanted fugitives from the agency. That's a real nice thought to wake up to, huh? I yawned and stretched weakly, and sat up straight, forcing Perry down onto my lap.

"Ugh, what time is it?" I asked groggily.

Perry quickly checked his wristwatch.

"10:46 in the morning." He answered, and I gasped in shock. Had I really been sleeping for that long? I barely even remembered falling asleep!

I looked around the van. Nothing had really changed. Pinky was still driving, and I was still in the back seat. We weren't being chased by any agents, which was a good sign. We were still on a long, barren stretch of highway, which didn't look really any different than it did yesterday, except for the fact that it was flooded in bright daylight now. I was curious of where we were. We had been driving for over 12 hours now, so we definitely weren't anywhere near Danville. We must be pretty close to Seattle by now.

"OK, where are we?" I asked.

"Uh, somewhere between Illinois and Iowa by now." Pinky said.

"That's all?" I said, truly shocked that we had only made it across a few states. "It's going to take a lot longer to get across the country then I thought."

"Well, we can't get from the Atlantic to the Pacific in a day by car." Pinky pointed out.

Once I was awake enough, we pulled over to switch drivers again. Considering I was sleeping for like 12 hours, it was my turn to drive Norm again. We took our original positions, me in the driver's seat, Perry and Pinky scrunched together in the passenger seat (Pinky with the window side). After I started up the car again, everything was pretty quiet until Perry's wristwatch started beeping. It caught me a little off guard. Could that be Major Monogram? Perry answered it anyways.

"Relax guys," he said, apparently noticing that Pinky and I were suddenly tensed up. "It's just Carl."

He said it like I knew who 'Carl' was. I probably did for all I knew, but I'm really not so good with remembering names.

"Who?" I asked, a look of confusion spreading across my face.

"Carl." Perry said.

I gave him a look that said it wasn't ringing a bell.

"The intern!" he added.

I still didn't know what he was talking about.

"You know, Major Monogram's little intern friend! The one from the agency!" Perry explained.

I shrugged.

Perry gave an irritated sigh. "Dr. Coconut!" he said.

"Oh! Him!" I said, finally understanding. Perry should know by now that I only recognized Monobrow's little intern by the nickname I gave him. "So, why's he calling you?"

"He called me on my video phone last night!" Perry said. "At first I thought it was a trick so the agency could track me down, but he actually wants to help us! He's probably just checking if we're still alive."

I paused and thought for a moment. Why would he of all people want to help us? And why would he be calling Perry? If he was with the agency, wouldn't it be a trap if he called? He's probably just trying to trick Perry so Monobrow can send more agents after us. Perry isn't gullible enough to fall for a trap that easily. He only really fell for my traps because he wanted to, since it was part of our routine. But Perry is way too smart and paranoid to fall for a trap that easily. No way was I trusting anyone from the O.W.C.A.

"You actually believed him?" I asked. "It could have just been a trap for all you knew!"

"I know it could have been, but it wasn't." Perry said. "I can just tell when people are lying or not. I could see it in his eyes."

"Oh that's a load of garbage!" I said, but Perry held up his hand as if to tell me to shut up.

"Can we please argue about this later? I'm kinda on the phone right now!" he said sternly, answering the video message.

"Sorry for the wait Carl, Doofy here doesn't seem to trust you!" he said into the video phone, flashing a quick death glare at me. "So, what's up?"

"OK Agent P, I've checked the perimeter a few times and—wait did you just call him 'Doofy'?" I heard Carl ask. The intern started snickering a little. "Ha ha! You call him that?" he said through chuckles.

Pinky started giggling a little bit too, and I just couldn't help laughing along with them. I mean it's weird enough me and Perry are enemies and best friends at the same time, now he's giving me nicknames? I noticed that Perry's cheeks were flaring bright red as we laughed at him. I didn't blame him, it was pretty embarrassing! "Sh-shut up!" Perry shouted over our laughter, aggravation and humiliation welling in his voice.

"I-I'm sorry Perry! I just can't believe you call me that!" I said through chortles. I was laughing so hard I had to really concentrate so I didn't swerve the car off the side of the road!

Perry just growled a little under his breath, his cheeks getting hotter by the second. "Can we just please get back to the important message please?" he said, trying to sound calm, but he was obviously extremely irritated with all of us.

"Ha, okay Agent P!" Carl said, trying desperately to stop laughing. Once he calmed himself down, he got serious again and started to give us an idea of what was going on. "OK, the good news is Major Monogram has sent every single one of his agents after you guys." He said. I gasped in shock. That didn't sound too good. "But the bad news is he doesn't know that Agent P is still alive! He only thinks he's putting up with Pinky and—"

"Don't even think about saying it!" Perry interrupted him.

"What? I was only gonna say Doof…y! Ha ha!" Carl snickered. Perry gave him another annoyed glare that said 'I'm not laughing', which made the intern shut up.

"Wait," I cut in. "You said that the _good_ news was all the agents coming to annihilate us and the _bad_ news was Monogram not knowing that Perry's alive…" I corrected. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Oh, right. My bad." Carl said. "The _bad_ news is the agents trying to destroy you, the _good_ news it Monogram thinking that Perry's dead."

"So you're saying that a bunch of agents are after us but none of them know that they have to put up with me?" Perry said.

"Yep." Carl confirmed.

"This is perfect!" Pinky said. "If Monogram only thinks that it's me and Doof, than he'll probably only send his lower rank agents! Then Perry jumps out and WHAM! They're defeated! This'll be a piece of cake!"

"Let's hope." Perry said. "But he'll eventually figure out that I'm here too. So we can't let our guard down even for a second!"

Suddenly and almost ironically there was an explosion of gun fire directly behind us just barely after Perry finished his sentence. All three of us ducked instantly, and the bullets flew just barely over our heads and shattered the windshield. All the sudden commotion caused me to lose control of the vehicle, and I swerved to the side of the road and crashed into a huge tree that seemed to come out of no where. And all this happened with in a few moments of time.

Everyone practically stopped breathing. The windshield was crushed into millions of tiny chards of glass, and the front of the car was totaled. I was stunned, and extremely worried! There was so many sharp pieces of glass everywhere, my hands were bleeding and cut! Were Perry and Pinky alright? Because of their size, the glass could have cut lethally enough to kill one of them! I anxiously wanted to turn around and see if they were alright, but I was so petrified that my brain just wouldn't compute the action. Eventually I forced myself to turn my head and glance in their direction.

"Perry! Pinky! Are you guys alright?" I asked worriedly.

"Ugh, yeah, are you?" Pinky said weakly.

"I, I think so…" I said, not so sure myself if I was alright. Everything happened so fast I couldn't even tell how hurt I was or not. I looked myself over briefly, and was relieved to see that it was only my hands that were bleeding.

"Perry are you oka—Perry?" I heard Pinky say, panic suddenly rushing in his tone on the last word. I quickly turned back around and my glance fell on my nemesis, who definitely wasn't okay. One of the razor-sharp remains of the broken windshield had left an enormous bleeding gash down the side of Perry's face! Dark blood dribbled down his face and stained his turquoise fur. Perry used his good arm to wipe his wound, and he gasped in shock when he saw how much blood was on his hand.

"Ow! Ugh! Why am I the only one getting hurt?" Perry said, trying to sound irritated, but there was no hiding the agony in his voice.

"Perry the—!" I started to shout, but I stopped myself when I glanced in the rearview mirror, and I noticed the car behind us. The agents inside who fired at—a cart and a dog—us were smirking! They, they were impressed with themselves! They were happy that they hurt my nemesis! Well no one, NO ONE hurts my nemesis but me and gets away with it! I tried to start the car again, and amazingly it worked! With the entire engine totaled I would have thought—oh right, Norm doesn't have an engine. He runs on solar power when he's in car mode. Wow, I should really read his manual more. Anyways, I backed up and hurriedly pulled back onto the highway. I started speeding away as fast as I could make Norm go, and I didn't even dare look back.

"D-Doof!" Pinky cried. "Pick up the pace! They're gaining on us!"

I glimpsed in the rearview mirror again, and saw that Pinky was right! The other agents were still quite a bit down the road from us, but they were speeding up and coming up behind us quickly! I sped up the car but I was already going full throttle and they were still faster than us! "Uh-oh!" I said hastily. "Now what do we do?"

But as soon as I said that, I got a great idea! If I could transform Norm from a robot to a car, then I could just as easily transform him back! I reached over and pressed the button to change him back to his regular form, but nothing happened! I tried pressing it again, but still nothing!

"What the, of all times Norm! Why won't you cooperate now?" I shouted in irritation.

"My apologies sir," Norm said shamefully. "But I'm too beat up to fully convert my body back to it's original form!"

I let out an infuriated sigh. "Well at least try!" I ordered him.

I heard a loud clanking sound, followed by a crunching noise that sounded like metal scraping against metal. I peered out the window of the car to see that one of Norm's legs had unfolded from the side of the car, but that was it. I slapped my own face in disappointment and aggravation. "Oh you stupid useless hunk of junk!" I scolded. I tell you to turn back into a robot and all you can do is stick out your le—" I stopped myself suddenly, for another brilliant idea hatched inside my evil head.

I glanced back in the mirror to find that the other car was gaining much faster than I expected. That meant that I only had a few moments to get my plan to work, and I only had one shot! I waited until they were only a couple of feet behind us, but I had to get this perfect. If I didn't act quick enough they could ram us off the side of the road, and then we were all doomed for sure. As soon as they were getting ready to hit us, I swiftly pulled the car to the right a couple feet and abruptly skidded the car to a stop.

"Doof! What are you—" Pinky started to yell, but stopped when the other vehicle slammed into Norm's leg, which was sticking straight out of the side of the car, directly in their path. It literally tripped them, sending them flying and flipping over a few times in the air, before crashing back down with a deafening metal-crunching thud! The car rolled over a few more times on it's side, breaking all the windows in the car, and eventually stopping upside-down about 20 meters in front of us.


	10. Chapter 10

**Pinky's POV**

I was truly stunned by what I had just seen. Their car just literally flipped in the air and crash-landed back down on the ground, doing somersaults across the road and stopping completely upside down! It was so…so…cool! Now that's what I call payback! I just couldn't believe Doof had actually planned that out so perfectly! I laughed a little, it was the only thing I could think to do. I mean seriously, how could you not laugh at an awesome wipe out like that? It's not everyday something like _that_ is the reason traffic is being held up!

But then I though of the other agents. There's absolutely no way they could have survived a catastrophe like that! Or at least with out major injuries! Great, now not only were we fugitives, we were murderers! Well, I guess you could sorta count that as self defense. We were the ones being shot at in the first place! Then again, we were the ones that were wanted criminals against the agency in the first place. Whatever, it didn't matter whose fault it was or not. I just couldn't be responsible for the death of other agents, even if they did hurt my friend! I had to check to see if they were alright!

I handed Perry over to Doof, who immediately took the bleeding platypus into his arms and tried desperately to stop the pouring blood with his lab coat. I opened the car door and started to climb out, when I heard Doof say "Where do you think you're going?"

"Well I have to see if they're okay, don't I?" I explained, hurriedly dashing over to the mangled pile of metal that used to be another vehicle.

When I got over there, I crouched down and glanced inside the wreckage. Agent C and Agent D were still in there, bruised and battered, and not moving at all. Their eyes were close, were they dead? No. I could still see them breathing. I dragged both of their unconscious bodies out through the window of the totaled car, and lied them on the concrete. Thankfully and miraculously, they weren't hurt. Just scraped and bruised a little, but they weren't seriously injured. They were alive, but they would wake up eventually, so I couldn't just leave them there. I had to make sure they couldn't escape, but how?

I glanced inside the car for anything I could use, and noticed there were two sets of handcuffs conveniently lying inside. They must have been meant for me and Doof. I crawled underneath the wreckage and grabbed them. I expertly handcuffed Agent C and Agent D to the pile of rubble that was formerly their car, and trudged back over to the tattered remains of our own car.

Doof was inside, still tending to Perry's wound. The sleeve of his lab coat was tainted with blood that he'd wiped off Perry's face, but the good news was the enormous gash wasn't bleeding anymore. It was already starting to heal up, and you could barely see the scar under his thick turquoise fur. Perry didn't look like he was undergoing that much pain anymore, and his expression was serious yet worried as usual. I was relieved to see that Perry was going to be alright, as always.

"Thanks guys, again." Perry said weakly but sincerely.

"No problem Perry the Platypus!" Doof said. "You already risked your own life for me, finishing off those goons was the least I could do."

"Oh! What happened to Agent C and Agent D? Are they alright?" Perry asked worriedly. Of course, yet again Perry was concerned about everyone but himself, even the people trying to kill him.

"Yeah, yeah. They're fine." I said. "Just unconscious."

"We should really get out of here before they wake up!" Doof said.

"Yeah, Doofy's right." I agreed, not passing my chance to tick Perry off again. It worked, as soon as I used his nemesis's new found nickname he scowled and glared at me. But it was hard to take his anger seriously since his cheeks were flushing a more vivid red than ever. I snickered.

"By the way, while we're on the subject, why do you call me that Perry the Platypus?" Doof asked curiously. "I mean most people just call me Doof, or Heinz, was adding the 'y' at the end really necessary?"

Perry sighed in irritation, apparently not very willing to answer the question. "Ugh, why is everyone making such a big deal out of a stupid nickname? Fine, if you must know, I call you that because I wanted my own cute little nickname for you. 'Doofenshmirtz' or 'Dr. Doofenshmirtz' is too long to say all the time, and 'Dr. D' just sounds plain retarded, since it could be any Dr. D. I could be addressing Dr. Doolittle for all I know! And I know a lot of people call you Doof, but it seems like everyone calls you that, I wanted to call you something different, to make it more special. And calling you 'Heinz' just makes me feel like I'm talking to a walking ketchup bottle." Perry explained, blushing uncontrollably again.

I had to stifle my giggling on that last part. Ha ha, walking ketchup bottle...

"Oh, it's alright Perry the Platypus! I actually kind of like your nickname for me!" Doof admitted. "It's sort of cute!"

"Aw, really?" Perry said, looking up at his nemesis with less embarrassment in his expression this time.

"Yeah, come to think of it, I should give you a nickname too..." Doof said, suddenly lost in his thoughts. "'Perry the Platypus' is kind of long, and really annoying to say all the time. And it is kind of stupid, come to think of it why do I always call you 'Perry the Platypus'? I already know you're a platypus! Oh, I have an idea! How about I just call you 'Perry' from now on, okay? It's much shorter and easier to say, don't you think?"

"Sure, Doofy!" Perry said.

"OK, good, glad this nickname thing is settled, can we get the heck out of here before Monobrow sends some more agents our way?" I said impatiently.

"Oh, right!" Doof said as he started up the car again and drove past the enormous wreckage we left behind us.


	11. Chapter 11

**Carl's POV**

"So you're saying that a bunch of agents are after us but none of them know that they have to put up with me?" Perry asked me through his wrist watch.

"Yep." I confirmed.

"This is perfect!" I heard Pinky say. "If Monogram only thinks that it's me and Doof, than he'll probably only send his lower rank agents! Then Perry jumps out and WHAM! They're defeated! This'll be a piece of cake!"

"Let's hope." Perry said. "But he'll eventually figure out that I'm here too. So we can't let our guard down even for a second!"

After that, all I heard was a deafening roar of gunfire, followed by an enormous crashing sound! I was so stunned, I lost my voice! I had no clue what to say! When I finally got out of my shock, there was silence on the other line. I tried to shout to them through the video phone, but it was too late. The lines were dead, and the entire connection was lost.

***

All that commotion happened about a couple hours ago. I had called Perry's video phone on his wrist watch to check up on him and let him know what was going on, but after the catastrophe I heard on the other line, I didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that there was gunfire and an ear-splitting crashing sound afterward. I guess that meant that the other agents had finally gotten to our heroes. They lost. That was my final conclusion. They may have been able to fight off Agent E and Agent B, but these agents had apparently been shooting at them. There's no way a semi-aquatic duck-billed beaver-tailed secret agent, a small big-eared Mexican dog secret agent and a goofy middle-aged evil scientist could have gotten out of this mess alive, I should have known it from the start.

Why did this have to happen? Why did all of this have to happen? It all started because of Major Monogram's stupid pointless mission! All it did was cause a lot more trouble in Danville than there ever was! What was he thinking? Now thanks to him, hundreds of innocent evil scientists across the Tri-State Area were eliminated, annihilated, destroyed, wiped off the face of the earth! Not only that but two of the bravest, valiant, most courageous determined little heroes I've ever met have also been carelessly executed by the cold hearted unforgiving bastard who used to be my boss! Why? Why did he have to take away all these helpless innocent lives? And for what? What did he possibly have to gain from all this brutal slaughtering? The advantage to stop more evil? In my eyes the only thing he did here was create more merciless sorrowful wickedness in the world. What kind of agency was he running here when he had to kill people to make himself feel like he did good?

I found myself pacing crossly back and forth across the room, gradually losing grip of my own sanity, and trying with all my self control to force back my tears. But before long I just couldn't hold it any longer, and I felt the warm, wet liquid stream down my skin, soaking my face before dripping onto the floor. I desperately struggled to sniffle back the big, fat, salty tears that were now flowing overwhelmingly fast, but it was no use trying to hide my sorrows as I silently mourned over my lost friends. It was like all that was light and good in the world was slowly being sucked out of my life, disappearing into a black hole of grief and misery and all that I knew and loved was slowly slipping into it. And it was all Monogram's fault.

But despite all, I still strived to look at the slightest possibility, the smallest gleam of hope I had left in the situation. What if Heinz and the two agents had survived the gunshots and car crash? What if the other agents hadn't captured them after all, and they were still alright, like always? Maybe this slight dilemma was nothing more but my feeble imagination jumping to sudden conclusions again, like the last time, and in reality I was just being overly dramatic as always and the trio was okay? There were slim chances of them getting out of this one, but hey I had to hope right? I wiped away my tears and tried to hide my grief and worry and relax myself. Everything was going to be okay. At least it might be, I'll never know until the agents report back to my cruel hearted boss with the latest info on the chase.

As if on cue, Agent D (Duck, not dog) came bursting in the other room, all out of breath with a look of worry and panic stricken across his face. He ran (well, waddled) straight up to Major Monogram and started quacking out some sort of gibberish that I was sure even if I was a duck I wouldn't be able to understand. I peered out of a slight crack in the door, ready to eavesdrop on any important information, like I had the last time.

"For goodness sakes Agent D! Use the animal translator! I can't for the life of me make out a word you're jabbering on about!" my boss ordered. He handed him the small microphone-looking device that could translate what the duck was saying into human English, and Agent D continued blabbing about something or other.

"Agent D! Agent C! Captured! Failed! Handcuffed! Car crash! Victims escaped!" He blurted out all out of breath in a random order.

"Agent D! Can you please repeat that slower this time?" Major Monogram asked, trying to sound nice but he was clearly losing patience with the duck.

"Okay, okay, it's Agent D and Agent C!" he started. "We just received a video transmission from them! It seems they had the victims in their sight, and they tried to fire at them, but they just wouldn't give up! They say that those pesky fugitives flipped their car over! And they blacked out! But when they woke up they found themselves handcuffed to their smashed vehicle, and that scientist, Chihuahua and platypus escaped!"

"Wait, platypus?" Monogram repeated. "I-I thought Agent P was already destroyed!"

"Well I guess he wasn't, because Agent D and Agent C claimed he was there." Agent D explained.

Suddenly, my boss's expression altered quickly from confusion to shock, to complete stun. Then his face turned beet red, and he looked more furious then ever! He looked like he was about ready to boil over in fury! I wouldn't have been surprised if steam started shooting out of his ears.

"WHAT? AGENT P IS STILL ALIVE?" he shrieked in anger, which made the duck start quaking in fear beneath him. I wasn't surprised, even I was shuddering a little bit now. It just frightened me so much when my boss got enraged like this. I used to get scared if he was starting to get just the slightest bit annoyed, so when he got like this it just completely alarmed me.

"I want that platypus dead at all costs!" he managed to say through gritted teeth. I heard Agent D clamper off the spread the word to the other agents.

Once Monogram calmed down a bit and all the fear washed out of me, I was overwhelmed with mixed feelings about the situation. It was just about the biggest relief I had ever experienced in my life to know that those three were still alive! I thought they were goners for sure! But that feeling of happiness and relief was immediately replaced with fear and fret for the trio, for now that Monogram knew that Perry was with them, he'd be sending all the best agents he's got to destroy them at all costs. I had to warn them somehow! But suddenly I heard heavy stomping across the room as my boss started heading for the door, and I quickly scrambled over to my desk and tried to look busy on the computer before he hastily burst in.

"Carl!" he shouted, still red faced and ready to blow at any moment. Having to listen to him when he was this ticked off was enough, having to talk to my boss when he was like this was just plain terrifying.

"Uh…y-yes s-sir?" I stuttered nervously.

"I need you to help me with something! It seems our old friend Agent P is still very much alive and out there somewhere! I need you to send all the rest of our agents after him ASAP!" he shouted.

"Already on it sir!" I replied quickly.

The Major stopped and leaned against the desk, letting out a stressful sight. He wiped beads of sweat of his forehead and planted his face in palm, grimacing in strain and constant worry. What the hell was he so troubled about? He was the one behind this whole mess, wasn't he happy that he was getting everyone killed? I hoped he was happy! I hoped he was happy at all the death and stress and misery he caused everyone over these past few days!

"Oh Carl, I just wished this didn't have to happen!" he said.

Didn't _have_ to happen? He was the one who started this whole crisis! If he wished this didn't have to happen, why was he putting himself and everyone else through all this?

"I just wish Agent P would just see things my way and do what I say! I don't want him to be killed, but he just won't listen to me!" he said.

Oh, now Agent P was the bad guy here. _He_ was the one who was wrong all of a sudden.

"I just don't understand why he won't cooperate!" my boss continued. "All I asked him to do was destroy his nemesis! I just don't comprehend why he can't let go! Doofenshmirtz is his mortal enemy! He should be happy to be rid of him, but still he loves the man and treats him like family for some reason…I just don't get it Carl! What could possibly draw Agent P to love his nemesis like that?"

I shrugged, for I didn't know what to say. I really can't explain why Perry and Doof love each other instead of hate each other either. Their entire relationship was a complete mystery to me. All I know is they're frenemies, who care deeply for each other for some reason.

"I mean it's not like I sent him to destroy his host family or something!" Monogram said. "I can understand why he grew attached to them, but—"

Abruptly the Major stopped mid-sentence, and got a strange expression on his face. His eyes went blank, and it seemed like he was thinking really hard about something all of a sudden. He got a 'Eureka!' expression to his face, like he had just gotten the greatest idea of his life! Then his expression turned diabolical and twisted again, and I could tell instantly that he had just gotten yet another cruel and evil plan to annihilate Agent P and his associates.

Monogram pulled out a photograph, and cackled manically to himself. He looked more wickedly evil than ever! Had my boss lost his mind?

"That's it! His host family! If I can't get to Agent P, then I could lead him straight to us!" he chuckled to himself, gazing down at the picture of the Flynn-Fletcher that he grasped tightly in his over-worked hands.


	12. Chapter 12

**Perry's POV**

**Hi, the last time you all saw our trio of heroes, we were on the road. And we're still on the road. So due to technical difficulties (and lazy authors) we're gonna do you all a BIG favor and just cut right to Seattle. If you don't like it, READ SOME OTHER STORY. Yeah, so thank you for your cooperation. Anyways, a few days and a whole lot of boring driving (aren't you glad we're skipping through all this?) later, we were finally approaching our destination…**

"Are we there yet?" Pinky asked.

"Not even close." I said, trying hard to focus on my driving instead of the annoying question.

"Are we there yet?" he asked again.

"No." I answered, more sternly this time.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

I groaned. Asking this stupid question a million times more than necessary definitely wasn't getting us there any faster. A couple more extremely annoying 'Are we there yet?'s later and I finally snapped.

"If you don't shut the hell up we'll never get there!" I scolded, which made Pinky whimper a little.

Doof scowled at me. "That was awful rude Perry! Don't pick on poor little Pinky like that!" he said.

"Well sorry if I'm a little irritated right now, but I don't think you're the one with a gaping hole through his arm and a scar down his cheek who's been driving for like 4 hours straight, are you?" I said harshly.

"Well, no but…" Doof started.

"Than shut your big mouth and let me drive!" I snapped at him before he could finish.

My sudden yelling made the car abruptly silent for a while after that. I noticed the look of shock and uncertainty spread across Doof's and Pinky's faces, out of the corner of my eye, and were they trembling? Wow, I must be scarier when I yell than I thought. Now I kinda felt like a jerk for shouting at them.

"Sorry for yelling at you guys. I'm just so exhausted and sick of driving and sick of well everything really. I've just been so stressed lately. I didn't mean to take it out on you two." I sincerely apologized.

"No need to apologize Perry, we're all a bit stressed right now." Doof said.

"A bit?" Pinky asked sarcastically. "We've been driving in this stupid car or robot or whatever you wanna call it for days running from the stupid agency as wanted criminals, we've been on our toes, expecting attack at any second, and on top of that we haven't seen our families in like a week! Yeah, I guess you could say we're a bit stressed…"

"Yeah, don't remind me about the family thing." I said, a little bit sadly. "I've been worried sick about Phineas and Ferb lately. I'll bet they've been spending all week looking for me. I just can't help feeling so homesick."

"Yeah, I know how you feel." Pinky sighed mournfully. "I'll bet Isabella's been searching for me all over. I just can't imagine her completely throwing off her busy schedule just to look for me."

That thought just made me more miserable. Phineas and Ferb were probably wasting their whole summer with some big search party for me and Pinky. As much as they miss me dearly and I miss them, I just didn't want them to blow off their summer vacation for me, and I probably wasn't even coming back anytime soon anyway. Or ever. Ugh! No, stop thinking like that! I really shouldn't have such negative thoughts, it's just bad luck! Okay, me Pinky and Doofy are all going to make it out of this alive and we'll all be back home in Danville safe and sound to carry out our usual lives and everything will all be happily ever after, the end. At least that's what I hoped.

After a few minutes of trying desperately to mentally encourage myself, I still just couldn't work up enough motivation to truly believe in myself. I must have still looked pretty drained and miserable, because Pinky immediately tried to cheer me up.

"So, are we there yet?" he asked, which forced me to smile slightly at the annoying yet somehow lightening question.

"No!" I screamed, trying to do my best to sound annoyed again. It didn't work, because Pinky started laughing.

"Are we there yet?" Doof chimed in, which made me slightly more aggravated.

"Don't encourage him!" I scolded Doof. One nuisance was enough; I needed at least one mature passenger.

"Are we there yet?" Pinky asked.

"No!" I responded.

"How about now Perry? Are we there now?" Doof added.

"No! Shut up!"

"I'll bet we're there now huh? Are we are we are we?" Pinky said.

"Seriously guys! Stop!"

"Now?" Doof asked.

"NO!" I shouted, becoming more and more frustrated by the second. "God, it's like having two freaking preschoolers in the car! No means no! Stop bugging me already, geez!" I knew that they knew we weren't really there yet. They were just trying to bug the hell out of me to keep me from being sad, and unfortunately it was working.

"Okay Pinky, I think he's annoyed enough." Doof said through giggles. Thank you Doof! I knew one of you was going to act mature eventually!

"Alright, but now I'm bored." Pinky grumbled, crossing his arms in disappointment.

"Turn the radio on or something." I suggested.

"Good idea!" Pinky said cheerfully, turning the car's radio on and scanning through the stations to get a good reception. When he finally landed on a station, this dumb pop song was playing. At first I couldn't really tell what the song was, but a few seconds into it I recognized it as 'Tik Tok' by Ke$ha. I groaned. I really hated that modern pop stuff that all the teens listen to. It was annoying enough having Candace play that crap all the time. This really wasn't making me feel any better.

"You actually listen to that pop stuff?" I asked.

"Well Izzy listens to it all the time, so it's kind of grown on me." Pinky said.

"Well if we're listening to music we're not listening to THAT." I said, reaching over and changing the station. I flipped through the static till I landed on a station that was playing some alternative rock song. I stopped to listen to it, and realized it was 'Know Your Enemy' by Green Day. I really was into rock a lot more then pop, since Phineas and Ferb listen to it a lot. And besides, I loved this song! But as soon as it got to "Violence is an energy…" Pinky was glaring at me.

"Ew! I hate that stupid punk rock stuff!" he said, quickly flipping the station back to Ke$ha.

"Uh, I don't think so!" I said, changing it back to Green Day a few moments later.

"Come on! I want to listen to Ke$ha!" Pinky pleaded, turning the station again. Now he was really aggravating me.

"Look, I want to listen to Green Day and that's final! I hate that stupid pop stuff! And that station has a ton of commercials anyway!" I argued, changing the radio back to Green Day again.

"Why do you get to listen to what you want?" Pinky said as he changed the station back to his music.

"Because! I'm driving that's why!" I said, grabbing hold of the knob and twisting it till my song came back on.

"Since when does that have to do with anything?" Pinky asked.

"Because, drivers get radio privileges!" I stated, grabbing hold of the knob at the same time as Pinky. We both started pulling back and forth on it, fighting over the radio.

"Yeah, over my dead body they do!" Pinky shouted in a response to my claim.

"Why is radio suddenly so important anyways? Why can't you just shut it off?" Doof said.

We both glared at the doctor, our expressions silently telling him 'Yeah, right!' and with out another word we continued fighting over the stereo. I heard Doof groan at our constant disputing, but neither of us were willing to give up our quarrel over the radio. Finally, we both yanked so hard, that the knob to change the station popped right off, sending us both flying backwards. I quickly grabbed the steering wheel to maintain control of the car, but when Pinky and I turned back towards the radio, it was apparently broken.

"Ouch!" Norm cried. "You really shouldn't be playing with my sound system!"

"Yeah, great job guys, now you broke it!" Doof scolded us.

Pinky and I both sighed in exasperation. Now we would really be bored.

"So, are we there yet?" Pinky asked. Great, the radio was the only thing keeping the annoying little Chihuahua's mind off of annoying me with pointless questions. Now the rest of this car ride was going to be dreadful. I was just about to shout back my strictest 'No!' when I looked out in front of us where the currently shattered windshield used to be.

There before us was the famous Seattle Space Needle, clearly sticking out over the rest of the buildings it towered over. Yes, we were finally there. After days and days and hours and hours of driving across the country we had finally arrived at our destination. Now all we had to do was find Peter the Panda. Once we found him, we might just have enough support to finally convince Major Monogram of his wrongdoings, and maybe he'd finally listen to us long enough to see our point. Or we'd fail miserably and Peter would be in line for execution as well, but whatever. We'd cross that bridge when we got to it, right now our biggest issue is finding Asian agent in this humongous city.

"Yes, yes we are." I said to answer Pinky's question.


	13. Chapter 13

**Perry's POV**

So the three of us had finally made it to the city of Seattle, but now our biggest issue was actually finding Peter the Panda. And after that the big question was...would he actually help us? But we'd cross that bridge when we got to it. At the moment our biggest issue was actually finding the Asian agent in the huge, crowded city.

"How are we supposed to find Peter the Panda?" Doof asked.

"I know where he lives." Pinky said. "I'll drive."

I hurriedly pulled over so Pinky could switch seats with me, and he started leading us through the busy crowded city. He drove for about half an hour, until we were driving through a less busy part of the city. The streets became narrower, and the buildings were still huge, accept around here they looked older and long abandoned. It looked like the ghetto of Seattle. I looked around at the deserted buildings, and it didn't look to me like anyone lived here. Where are the houses? And people? It didn't look like there were houses for miles, how could Peter's host family live around here?

After a short while of driving down deserted streets and alleys, Pinky finally parked in front of this small dark alley between two huge old falling-apart buildings. Peter lives here? But his family couldn't live in an alley…

"What's a matter Perry?" Pinky said as the three of us climbed out of the car.

"Where does Peter the Panda's host family live?" I asked curiously. "They couldn't possibly live around here…could they?"

Pinky sighed. "Not all agents have host families Perry." he said. I gasped. No host family? Peter the Panda doesn't have any owners? I never knew that, that's terrible! He doesn't have a nemesis or a family! That just sounds sad and lonely…I know I could probably get by if I had at least one side of my double life, but he doesn't have either. No wonder he wanted my nemesis so bad…

"W-Wow, r-really?" I stuttered in astonishment. "Poor guy…"

"Yeah, I know how you feel. If I didn't have any owners I know I'd be pretty down. I couldn't imagine how he feels." Pinky agreed, hanging his head shamefully.

I suddenly felt a weird mix of sadness, anxiety, and loneliness well up inside me. I guessed just thinking about his pain made me feel sorry for Peter, and at the same time much more thankful for the wonderful life I had. I always took my double life for granted, not realizing how lucky I was to have such a wonderful, loving family. And I always though of my nemesis as just a nuisance that I had to put up with everyday. I couldn't believe that I never realized what a great best friend he was until he was on the brink of being destroyed forever. I guess I should never undervalue the great life I have ever again, especially when there are people like Peter the Panda who have nothing. But I shook off my varied feelings and tried to concentrate on the matter at hand. I could think more about this important life lesson later, we had a vital mission to accomplish here.

"Come on, we don't have much time to chat, let's go find him!" I ordered, marching towards the dark unfamiliar alley ahead of us. I took a few steps, and listened closely behind me. I heard Pinky's silent little Chihuahua feet prancing along behind me, but no sign of Doof's big clumsy feet following us. I spun around and gazed up at the doctor, who hadn't moved more than a few feet from the car, and he looked extremely nervous and uncertain about following us. I waved him over to signal my reluctant scardey-cat nemesis to come on, but he swiftly shook his head and didn't budge. I wondered what was up.

"I-I'll just wait here…and uh…watch the car, okay?" he said, backing up a few feet towards the damaged vehicle.

"Uh…okay." I said, not really certain why he felt so apprehensive about following us, but I didn't argue. We were short on time, and he was probably to big to squeeze through that small, narrow alley anyways.

Pinky and I marched on, and just managed to wedge ourselves through the slim opening without too much trouble. As we continued shimmying our way through the alley, I the opening suddenly got wider, and through the bleak but fairly bright sliver of daylight that somewhat flooded the place, I could see nothing ahead of us. Just a dim, desolate little area between two huge unwelcoming buildings, nothing but a normal barren inhospitable alleyway.

"Uh, Peter lives here?" I asked, uncertain and a little edgy about this whole place. Everything around me just felt so uninviting and hostile, I just didn't feel safe on this intimidating, depressing side of Seattle. I just wanted to get the heck out of there!

"Course not!" Pinky said, pushing a certain brick in the wall with precise accuracy. As soon as he did, a diminutive opening in the solid concrete wall opened up, revealing a small secret agent sized hole that opened up into a tiny chute. It reminded me of the one back at the Flynn-Fletcher house that I used often. The new, modern, clean look of the hidden passage looked so out of place in this dreary, heartless looking ghetto.

Without another word we slid down the chute, which was pretty dirty as you got farther down, signaling that it hadn't been used in quite a while. I even got a couple of cobwebs stuck in my mouth on the way down the dim slide. When the top of the chute closed back up automatically, we were suddenly shrouded in complete darkness. It was so dark in here I couldn't even tell where the slide ended! Then it hit me—literally hit me on the butt—and we landed without warning on the ground with a painful thud.

I rubbed my bruised behind and picked myself up, looking around and taking in all my new surroundings. It looked surprisingly, well, just like my base! Well not _just_ like my base, but pretty much the same style, with all modern technology and advanced gadgets lining the walls. A huge monitor was the center piece of the massive room, complete with a large comfortable looking red chair in front of it. Wow, it was obviously bigger and nicer than my secret agent base, that's for sure! It was so neat and tidy and high tech, it was just so different than I imagined it would be. I figured he'd have the whole place done Asian-style, complete with bamboo furniture and wall paper. I was so astonished at how contemporary it looked, I couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Then I remembered the 'not having a host family' thing, and abruptly switched my feelings back to guilt and remorse for the panda once again.

Then I was distracted from my thoughts on the place when I felt another sharp flash of pain on my rear-end, probably from the harsh landing I had just encountered. Geez, all the high-tech technology and stuff and he can't even afford a throw pillow? I smirked a little at that thought. I was sounding more and more like my nemesis everyday, huh?

"Hey Peter!" I heard Pinky suddenly say as he ran over to the big red chair. The chair immediately turned around to reveal Peter the Panda, who had a bored expression on his face, but instantly gained a look of surprise and delight when his gaze fell on the eager little Chihuahua agent who ran over to greet him.

"Hi Pinky! What a nice surprise—" the Asian agent started to say, but he stopped cold when his gaze fell on me. Peter stared at me blankly for a few moments, a look of astonishment spread across his black and white face. After he got over his shock, he blinked his eyes a few times and turned back to Pinky.

"Y-you brought Perry here?" he stammered hesitantly.

"Yeah, you guys remember each other, right?" Pinky asked, sounding just as clueless about us as Phineas is about Isabella. I slapped my face into my palm and let out an aggravated sigh. How could we ever _forget_each other?

Peter didn't seem as annoyed at Pinky's oblivious comment as I was, and he hopped off of his chair and took a step towards me. "So, we meet again Perry the Platypus." he said casually, but with a hidden sharpness in his tone of voice. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Look, Peter." I started. "We didn't mean to disturb you or anything, but we come here to ask of your help."

"Help?" the panda replied, with more of an edge to his voice now. "Now why would the agent who has everything need _my_ help all of a sudden?"

"Agent who has everything?" I repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on Perry! You have everything!" Peter suddenly snapped at me. "You have a loving host family, your owners are the two greatest inventors this world has ever known for crying out loud! And on top of all that you have the absolute greatest nemesis ever! Plus to top it all off you're pretty much the head agent of the O.W.C.A.! Why would you need anything from me? All I am is a worthless little low-ranked agent without any friends or family…or a life for that matter." he said crossly, his expression quickly changing from a look of hatred to a look of unhappiness and gloom. I was stunned at his sudden mood swings, but couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor guy. He was right, I guess I do have everything compared to his miserable, empty life. A sudden sensation of depression and loneliness washed over me as I felt Peter's pain overwhelm all my other thoughts and emotions. I had to do something to make him feel better.

I cautiously made my way over to where Peter stood, and put a shaky hand on his shoulder. When he looked up, he still looked miserable, but he gazed at me curiously as if to say 'What do you want?'.

"Peter, I'm so sorry. I know you have no host family, no nemesis, and pretty much nothing to live for. I understand that." I started.

"How do you understand?" he said irritably. "You'll never know the feeling of emptiness I felt my whole life! You'd never understand the pain I've suffered!"

"Okay, maybe I can't understand completely…" I admitted. "But I don't know what it's like to lose somebody you love either. And I don't intend to know how that feels. That's why I need your help."

"No." Peter said quickly, pulling away. "I have enough problems of my own! I'm not going to get myself tangled up in yours!"

"Look, Peter. I know you're hurting right now, and I want to help. Actually, I will help!" I said, which made him turn around to face me again, a slight gleam of hope in his eyes.

"I assure you I'll do everything I can to help you get at least a host family, and a nemesis. No agent should have to suffer the emptiness and loneliness you've suffered all this time, so I'd be more than willing to help. I-I promise." I said sincerely.

Peter turned around fully to face me, tears of joy welling up in his eyes. It looked like all signs of the pain and suffering that was previously eating away at him had vanished, and hope filled his expression again. "You-you really mean that? You promise you'll help?" he asked, sounding dramatically more cheerful, but a hint of distrust and uncertainty still lingered in his eyes.

"I promise." I said. "But before I can help you, I really need you to help us."

"A-alright. I'll help. I guess…it depends on what you need help with." Peter said.

"Okay, now this may seem a little crazy and dangerous at first, but keep in mind my point of view and maybe you'll understand." I told him as I started to explain. He nodded, so I continued with my long, grueling tale of how and why we were here. I spilled just about everything that had happened to us. Starting from the big meeting at the O.W.C.A. and the terrible deed that Major Monogram had ordered us all to accomplish. I explained to him my point of view, and why I didn't want to destroy Doofenshmirtz. I informed him on every single part of our long, exhausting and exhilarating trip to Seattle, and ended at our reason for being here, and why we needed his help. When I finally finished with my lengthy story, Peter was absolutely speechless, and even dumbfounded from what he had just heard.

"So let me get this straight, you guys are being chased down by the entire O.W.C.A. because you didn't follow orders to destroy your nemesis, and now you're all wanted criminals and you came here for my support in bringing them to justice?" Peter confirmed, and I nodded in return. It was silent between us for a few moments, absolutely no sound echoing through the massive room. Peter blinked his eyes a couple times, taking in all this sudden information. When he finally recovered, to my surprise he broke out laughing! I was infuriated by the unordinary reaction. How in the world was any of this funny to him? I was being serious here!

"What are you laughing at?" I shouted, a strange mixture of irritation, rage, and confusion welling up in my voice. "I'm telling the truth here!"

"Oh, I believe you and everything." Peter said between chuckles. He paused for a moment to seize his laughter before continuing. "It's just so ridiculous! I mean, you can't fight the entire O.W.C.A. all by your self! No matter how unreasonably cruel and heartless Monogram's reasoning is, it's just not very bright to go rebellious against the entire agency! There's just no way you can win! Just give up!"

I was heartbroken that Peter was so doubtful about our efforts. We had made it this far and evaded the agents, haven't we? If we had made it all this way, didn't we at least have a fighting chance? I knew it wasn't the most intelligent of plans, but we were wanted criminals anyway. We couldn't just give up, since we didn't have anything left to lose. Our entire plan would have gone completely to waste if we were to give up now.

"Alright, I know it seems impossible, but at least I'm trying!" I said with more determination and confidence building up inside me. "I'm fighting for what I love, and as long as I believe in myself I know I'll be able to accomplish anything!" I said sternly.

"But Perry," he argued. "No matter how much assurance and confidence you have in yourself, no matter how determined you are to fight for it, you just can't battle such a big organization with just three people."

"True, but I might have just a slight sliver of a chance with four people." I pointed out.

"Wait, what?" Peter suddenly said. "Four people? Oh no no no no no no no NO! I am NOT helping! I did not agree to putting my life in danger just to help you get your stupid point across! I am not willing to get myself fired, or even killed just for you! I have a life of my own!" he snapped.

"But I thought you said you didn't have a life?" I argued. "I thought you said just a few moments ago that you didn't have anything left to live for, hmm?"

Peter looked hesitant for a moment, but gave in.

"Ugh! Fine! I guess I really don't have anything to risk by putting my life in danger." he confessed. "And you really do make a good point, I don't want any innocent people to get killed either…"

"Uh, innocent people already have died." Pinky abruptly chimed in. He had been so quiet, I had almost forgotten the little Chihuahua agent was even there. "Monogram already ordered all the other agents to kill their nemeses. And it's been quite a few days since then, so I'm sure they're already obliterated." Pinky pointed out.

"R-really?" Peter asked, more astonishment and symphony in his tone now. "Innocent evil scientists have already…died? That's terrible!"

"Yeah, Doofy's pretty much the only one of them left!" I added.

Peter was silent for a few moments, but soon a look of determination and willpower was spread across his face. "In that case, I-I have to help. The situation is too dire to stand here and argue about it! I have to help you guys, and Doofy!" he said confidently.

"Yeah Peter! That's the spirit!" I said cheerfully, overwhelmingly grateful for his assistance and support. I was so happy, it took me a couple of minutes to finally realize what he had just said.

"Wait a sec," I said, briefly recalling Peter's last few words. "What did you just call my nemesis?" I asked. I heard Pinky gulp. He knew as well as I did what was coming. This most likely wouldn't end well for Peter.

"Uh…I called him Doofy? So what? I heard you call him that…" the panda said warily.

"Uh-oh, here comes the lecture…" Pinky muttered, hiding his face.

I swiftly grabbed Peter by a chunk of fur on his collar, and dragged him over so that we were face to face. "OK! Let me get one thing straight here!" I scolded him sternly. "No one, I repeat NO ONE is ever under any circumstances ever allowed to call Doofenshmirtz by that nickname but ME! OKAY? To you and Pinky and everyone else, his name is Doofenshmirtz, Heinz, Doof, whatever else you want to call him! But he is my nemesis, and my nemesis ONLY! Which means that is my nickname for him, and my nickname for him ONLY! Got it? So I never EVER under any conditions EVER want to hear the word 'Doofy' coming from your mouth again!" I said, dropping Peter, whom I'd had somewhat suspended a couple inches off the ground whilst I was lecturing him. Once he stumbled to his feet, he looked severely stunned, and even quite a bit fearful of me now. His tiny stubby panda body was trembling all over when he glanced back at me, extreme fright sparking up in his huge eyes.

I stared down at my webbed toes in embarrassment. "Oh, hehe, I'm sorry for scaring you Peter." I said sheepishly. "I'm usually not that strict and sensitive about the nickname thing—"

"Yes he is!" Pinky added. I shot him a glare.

"No I'm not!" I argued before continuing. "Anyways, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just still—"

"A little mad about me trying to take him before." Peter finished for me, sighing in disappointment. "I'm sorry Perry. I really wish we could just put all that behind us…"

"Oh, no! You don't think I'm still mad about all that, do you? Of course not!" I said quickly. To tell the truth, I really was still a little bit peeved at him for all the depression and hurt I suffered through back through that—misfortunate episode. But I wasn't really angry with Peter in specific. Or Doofy either. I was just furious about the whole situation, it wasn't anyone's fault. But you couldn't blame me for feeling a little mad about it, right? I mean everything's okay now (well not _right_ now, but you know what I mean) so the whole thing was kind of behind us, but just thinking back on the situation still made me a little on edge.

"I'm sorry, I am a little mad at what happened, but that's in the past right? It's not that I'm mad at you for it or anything, you just bring back…bad memories, that's all. I'm real sorry I snapped at you like that." I apologized, feeling a little guilty now.

"It's alright Perry." he said comfortingly. "I forgive you. I'm glad we can still be friends despite all that. And it was all Doof's fault anyway…"

"Oh boy…" Pinky said, realizing what was about to happen even before I did. I felt the rage and fury as I did before pulsing through my veins again, building up like molten lava inside a volcano. Soon I was bubbling hot with anger and ready to erupt.

"IT WAS NOT DOOFY'S FAULT!" I shouted, my bad temper taking over my emotions and sanity again.

I noticed Peter was shaking again, apparently frightened by my sudden behavior. Pinky ran over and immediately pulled Peter away. I didn't blame him. I would want to get as far away from me as possible if I was him right now, at least until I calmed down. I tried to breathe slowly, tried to gradually calm myself down back to the point where I could talk again without screaming. But I just couldn't get over my frustration that easily. I don't know what about that comment had gotten me so upset. Maybe because I was just so stressed to the brim and ready to boil over that I'm just taking it out on Peter and every little thing he says that gets on my nerves. Or maybe our whole situation had just gotten me so worked up and over protective of my nemesis that I'm snapping at every little thing against him right now. Whatever the reason, I still had to concentrate on mentally relaxing myself before thinking up an explanation—or more importantly an apology—for Peter.

"Don't feel bad Peter." I heard Pinky say calmly, trying to get the panda to settle down as well. "We shouldn't blame Perry for getting like this. For one thing he's just been so stressed out, it's understandable that he's letting all his anger out on us. And on another note he's been exceedingly defensive over Doof since his life had already been in jeopardy once." Pinky explained, gesturing towards the small cast on my arm as he finished. I really didn't need a reminder of _that_ little incident.

"Oh! Speaking of Doofy—I mean Doof, sorry." Peter promptly corrected himself, not wanting a repeat of my last out lash. "Where is he? I thought you said he was with you guys?"

"Oh, he is!" Pinky said. "He's waiting outside. Come on! We should go see him and tell him what's going on before he gets mugged or something."

The two of them started scampering towards the door, when Pinky stopped briefly all of a sudden.

"Oh, wait!" Pinky suddenly said, halting and reaching into his hat for something. He pulled out the small animal-translating ray gun my nemesis had constructed earlier. "You'll probably need this so he can understand you too." Pinky said as he zapped Peter with the ray.

"What the—" Peter started to say, but he stopped himself quickly when he realized that a human voice was coming out of his mouth. "Wow! I-I can talk! Oh, so that's how you guys were talking? I was going to ask you about that, but it completely slipped my mind." Peter said, still looking completely astonished and taking in every aspect of his new found voice.

"Alright, now let's go!" Pinky announced, him and Peter bounding towards the exit once again. I didn't budge. I was too distracted in making sure I was calm and serene enough to move again. "Coming Perry?" I heard Pinky call after a few moments.

"Oh, right!" I said. "Coming!

I followed Peter and Pinky, and together we went up the exit chute, which sucked us up like a vacuum back up to the noisy city streets a few miles above. The three of us stealthily crawled back out through the slim alley way and back out into the broad, blinding daylight that flooded the narrow, twisting streets of Seattle on this bright, sunny day.


	14. Chapter 14

**Phineas's POV**

"Come on honey, eat your breakfast!"

I sighed as I slumped lazily in my place at the dining table, staring at my bowl of cereal. I stuck my spoon in it and absentmindedly stirred it around until the flakes had become soggy in the milk and sunk to the bottom of the bowl. I completely ignored my mom's comment. My mind was else where. I listened vaguely as everyone else got up from the table and carried their dishes to the sink. I sighed mournfully again and sluggishly dragged myself out of my chair to place my uneaten breakfast in the sink as well.

"What's wrong Phineas? You haven't even touched your cereal." Mom said, gazing down at my depressed expression with concern welling in her eyes as she realized how restless I looked.

I noticed Ferb was standing by me, eagerly waiting for me to give him instructions on what we were going to do today. I'm sure he expected me to be in my usual happy-go-lucky mood and scamper out into the backyard to do something unbelievable as always, but I just wasn't into it today. Wasn't into anything today.

Mom put down the dishes she was scrubbing and bent down beside me, putting a damp soapy hand on my shoulder. She lifted up my head with her other hand and forced me to look me into her woried eyes, all the while giving me that motherly look that told me I needed to confess what was wrong. I really didn't want to tell her, or anyone, for that matter. There were too many things wrong in my life to discuss.

"Phineas, honey, I know it's been a whole 11 days since you last saw him, but you really have to let this go." She said, carefully working her way around the need to address him by name. She knew all too well it would make me cry.

"Now why are you still so depressed?" she continued after a few moments when I refused to answer.

"How could I not be depressed? We've been searching for so long! There's just no trace of him anywhere! I just can't grasp the idea that he's just—gone." I said, having to use every ounce of my strength not to break out bawling, like I had been for so long now.

"I know you miss him, but you just can't go on not eating and not sleeping your whole life. I'm real sorry to tell you this, but I think it's about time to move on." Mom said.

I was surprised that she would ever think that. Move on? What in the world did she mean by that…just…just give up? Give up looking, and bring our long tiring search to an end? That would just mean that all our efforts were completely worthless! All that time of our glorious summer put to waste while we were desperately straining to find him! I couldn't have that! I'm Phineas Flynn for crying out loud! I can do absolutely anything! I can't just give up. I've lost hope once before, but I believed in myself and everything worked out in the end. I just had to keep believing.

"N-no!" I said, shaking out of her grasp and backing up a few feet away. My mother gawked down at me, surprised by my sudden reaction.

"No! I'll never ever move on! I-I can't! I love him too much to just stop looking. I can't just forget about him mom! I can't!" I shouted, determination in my voice, and focused my blood-shot eyes back up on her distraught face.

"Phineas, I completely understand how you feel, but you have to know when it's time to give up looking. He's just a platypus." she said.

That was it. That was the absolute most I could take, the final straw! I felt my heart shatter into a million shards of broken dreams, unable to withstand the heavy growing weight of my sorrows anymore. I've kept all this sadness bundled up inside me for so long, I was ready to burst and wield all my emotions into pure anger at the world! 'Just a platypus.' How dare she say that? He was never just a platypus to me. He was my platypus! He was the best pet in the world to me, even if he didn't do much! Bucky I could move on from pretty quickly, mostly because I was really too young to remember him, being only an infant when he supposedly ran away. But Perry was special, and I couldn't let the same thing happen to him. He was too lovable to ever forget about, and he'd grown on me all these years. How dare my own mother give up on hope! I sure won't.

"Just a platypus! JUST a platypus?" I shouted, spewing out my words like hot acid, burning through my mom's wounds and stinging her from the inside out. "He's not just a platypus to me! He's my best friend, and I will never EVER stop caring about him, no matter how much you or anyone else tries to put me down!"

On that note, I turned away from my mother's stunned and pained expression, storming out of the room and into the quiet serenity of my backyard, where no one would ever be able to put down my hopes and dreams and creativity. "Come on Ferb!" I snapped quickly at my brother on the way out. I listened closely behind me, and heard him following me obediently as always. But I heard no sign of mom following us. I'd never talked back to her like that before, so she must still be at a loss for words. I doubt she'd scold me later though. She may not understand how determined I was to get my beloved pet back, but you'd have to be a fool to not understand how wound up and stressed I was.

As soon as I got outside, I plopped myself down against the big tree in the backyard. I grunted furiously and glared up at the sky, which was beautifully sunny with out a cloud in sight. How dare it be so breathtakingly wonderful outside on such a terrible day? I sighed, my thoughts too mixed up and cloudy to think rationally about anything. I had to clear my mind, had to calm myself down a little first.

I heard Ferb sit down beside me, following what I did like he did everyday. I hated having control over my stepbrother's day, since when I wasn't in the mood to do anything, he didn't do anything. I wished that he would go off and have the time of his life while I sat around and moped like this, but he was reluctant to do anything without me. I respected his wishes to waste his day with his grumpy and over-tired brother, but I really felt sorry for Ferb. I didn't want to ruin his summer. I knew mine was already destroyed.

I fought back the urge to fall asleep (since I hadn't gotten any rest since Perry had disappeared) as I lied peacefully on the soft, inviting grass. The aroma of the fresh cut lawn and clean, summer air was calling me, urging to get up and strive to make today the best day ever. But who would I be to have the time of my life when Perry was gone? Nothing was the same without him; I just couldn't enjoy my summer knowing he was gone. I just couldn't imagine where he could be right now. All alone, desperately struggling to find his way home. Battling against the elements without any shelter, no where to go. No one to hug him and squeeze him and tell him what a fantastic little pet he was. No one to love him like he should be loved. I could just barely picture him like a movie in my head, his rib cage showing through his empty stomach, his fur ragged and scruffy. His blood shot eyes urgently scanning the streets for some sort of food to nourish his famished little body. That of course being the best case scenario. I couldn't visualize what it would be like if Perry was hurt in any way, or…dare I even think this way about my pet…dead.

But no. He couldn't be! I wouldn't allow it! He couldn't possibly just be gone! We'll find him, we'll—

"Phineas,"

I ceased my jumbled thoughts at the sound of my dear brother's voice. He sounded just as distraught as our mom, apparently concerned at how depressed and miserable I had become. When I turned to see his face, he wore a much different expression than his usual blank appearance. He was staring at me weirdly, and I couldn't understand why until I felt something flow down the side of my face and drip off the end of my triangular nose.

"Oh," I said, wiping the tears that were now flowing more increasingly from my eyes. I hadn't even realized I had broken down to the point of crying again. I thought I had gotten over that at least a couple of days ago. Now I felt my cheeks flush red as I felt a little embarrassed to be tearing up like a big baby over such a stupid little thing.

"Phineas, he's not coming back." Ferb said sadly. I looked over his expression, but it was entirely serious. He was losing hope too. And, I thought for just a moment that I saw a gleam run down his face. Was he, crying?

That was it. I just couldn't take it any more. We had been searching for over a week now. Me and my brother had gotten everyone we knew to help. We went door to door for information, plastered 'Missing' posters of him up everywhere, informed the entire town and sent out the biggest search party ever. We had even gotten 12 TV broadcasts, 7 radio announcements and 4 newspaper ads about the issue! But no luck. Not even a trace of him was found. And as the days passed, and the rewards on the wanted posters got higher and higher, and we slowly lost our search party, everyone lost hope. Except me. But now, I just couldn't be hopeful anymore. Everyone else slowly moved on, and it was about time for me to move on as well. There was just no point. We had built a roller coaster through the city, made the biggest airplane in the world, and the biggest paper air plane in the world. We defied time, defied gravity, and basically broke the laws of physics every single day of our summer. But this situation was just hopeless. Perry was gone forever. Ferb was right, he wasn't coming back.

Suddenly I heard the unmistakable sound of my sister stomping into the back yard at her usual schedule. She stopped to glare down at us, obviously about to yell something along the lines of "You're busted!" or "You better not do anything crazy today or I'm telling mom!" But instead, her expression suddenly turned more sympathetic when her frustrated gaze fell on my restless and miserable expression.

"Uh, what are you guys going to do today?" Candace said, strangely much less agitation in her voice all of a sudden.

I didn't answer. I just stared up at her, unable and unwilling to work up enough energy to wipe the unenthusiastic frown off my bewildered face.

"You guys aren't going to try and search for Perry again, are you?" she asked curiously after a few moments of complete silence.

"We have to." I said, but there was a severe loss of determination in my shaky voice as I said this. "What else can we do?"

"Phineas, I know you're heartbroken that he ran away, but you can't just go searching for Perry forever." Candace said, which didn't cheer me up at all. Now she was beginning to sound just like mom.

"No! H-he'll come back! I-I know he will!" I stuttered, my words coming out blank, with no feeling behind them. I didn't have an ounce of confidence left inside me. Was I giving up too, whether I knew it or not?

"He's just a mindless animal!" Candace said, which made my heart drop. "He's not smart enough to find his way back home!"

"But he does every day." I argued, not even willing enough energy to strengthen my voice or try to look the least bit angry at her for her stupid remark.

"Yeah, but you guys searched every square inch of Danville! If he's anywhere outside of the Tri-State Area, I doubt he'd be able to find his way home from there. It's just time to give up, Phineas." she said.

She was right. We had to give up. All my hopes and dreams came crashing down back on top of me, strangling me and smothering me until it was getting hard to breathe under the strength of my sister's heart-shattering words. I felt the tears rolling back into my huge, dark blue eyes and running down my cheeks. I couldn't put up an argument with the truth staring me in the face, like it had been the whole time. Perry was gone. Forever.

"B-b-b-ut, I l-love him!" I stammered, barely whispering the words past my lips as I strained to find my own voice again. I abruptly dropped to my knees in the grass and started choking on my tears, the whole world oblivious to me now as I sobbed mournfully and my vision and hearing blurred. I suddenly felt warmth around me, and I realized that my siblings were hugging me, trying to get me to control my self, trying to get me to feel better. But nothing would ever get me to feel better. Nothing, but Perry. Where did I go wrong, boy? What did we ever do to make you run away? Oh, if I could just hear your little chattering noise and see your innocent little brown eyes one more time, just to know that you're alive and well would be enough to make me see the light and find happiness again.

"Aaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Candace's sudden screaming broke my thoughts, and I fought with my reflexes to open my eyes again. When I finally recovered enough and wiped the tears away so my vision would clear up again, I looked frantically around the yard. At first I didn't see anything, but suddenly I noticed strange men all around us. They were all wearing matching black suits and were covered in protective gear that looked thick enough to withstand bullets. But what caught me off guard the most was that they were armed…with guns! Big guns too! They looked like they were part of the SWATT team or something. I felt my brother and sister tense up beside me, and they wore panic stricken expressions to match their frightened whimpers. I found my self trembling, quivering in sudden fear. Who were these guys? What was going on? I couldn't even work up enough courage to scream, I was paralyzed with fright.

Suddenly, with one wave of a hand from one of the many men surrounding us, they took the signal and pounced. They quickly closed in around us and grabbed us swiftly by the arms, trying to capture us, trying to drag us away! I cried out in agony as their fingers dug into my arm with their extremely tight grips. I looked around frantically for a way out, for some means of escape, but there was no use struggling in their tight grasps. We were trapped.

"W-what's happening? What are you doing to us?" I heard Candace cry over my petrified and panicked screams.

But none of the men answered. They just continued to grab us and drag us to some unforeseen destination, and that was about all I could remember. Suddenly I felt a sharp blow to my head, and my vision blurred immediately. The whole yard, the men, and my siblings started spinning and whirling around me, like the whole world was suddenly caught in one humongous hurricane. Then, I felt another agonizing thud as my head hit the ground, and everything faded into black.


	15. Chapter 15

**Perry's POV**

Once Pinky, Peter and I exited the panda's underground lair and came up through the dark alley way into the broad, blinding summer sunlight, the first thing I noticed was Doofenshmirtz.

He was leaning against the old broken down brick wall of the building beside the alley, right where we had left him. But something seemed strange. We had only left him out here for less than half and hour, yet he looked worried and worked up over something. Even a little frightened. But as soon as he saw us, he was apparently striving to hide his anxiety.

"Oh, hey guys." he said, a little nervously, for some reason. "Looks like you found Peter, huh?"

"Hi Doof." Peter addressed him, obviously not paying much attention to Doof's strange switch of emotion. "Long time no see."

"You're not still mad about, you know, everything, right?" Doof asked the panda warily, not needing to address the subject, for we all knew very well what he meant.

Peter shrugged. "I'm over it." he said, though I could still sense a little aggravation in his voice on the mere thought of the matter. I doubted he would really fully be 'over it'.

"I just wouldn't mention it that often." I said.

"Uh, Doof…" I heard Pinky ask suddenly. I looked over at him, and he was glancing around the area frantically, stopping his gaze ever so often in the space where we parked the car. Doof flinched a little, like he knew what ever Pinky was going to say was coming, and I suddenly realized what was wrong as well.

"Where the heck is the car?" Pinky asked, turning back to face my nemesis, who looked sheepishly down at his toes. His face blushed red as we all waited for an answer.

"Oh, ha ha. That…well, you see, it was, uh, kind of…stolen." he said, muttering the last word. We all gasped and stared at him in complete disbelief.

"What?" I exclaimed. "Stolen?"

"Yeah…" he mumbled, apparently anticipating our stern reactions. "Well, there were these two guys, and they came up to me and said 'nice car'. So I'm like 'it's not a car it's a robot transformed into a car' and they're like 'nice robot'. So then one of the guys pulls out a gun from his pocket and holds it up to me, and the other guy demands for my keys or else they'll blow my head off. So I throw them the keys and they both jump into the car and speed away. So I'm just standing there like an idiot on the sidewalk, completely stunned and shaking in fear, and for the last 10 minutes I've been trying to think of someway to explain this to you guys without you getting to mad. I guess that didn't work, huh?"

I was completely dumbfounded. But weirdly after hearing his story, all my feelings of anger and frustration suddenly washed away, and I felt so sorry for my nemesis. And I couldn't shake the feel that this was all my fault.

"Oh, Doofy!" I said, running up to my nemesis and looking him over briefly. "That's terrible! Are you hurt at all?" I asked urgently.

He just shook his head. "No, I'm fine." he said, but that still didn't make me feel any better about what had happened.

"Oh, this is all my fault! I never ever should have left you out alone like this! I can't believe I put your life in danger again!" I said shamefully, totally furious at my self. How could I have done that? He was already in enough trouble because of my stupid boss scheduling him for execution. Doof's life was in my hands, and I just carelessly left him out here alone in the ghetto of this unforgiving cold-hearted city. How could I have done that to my own nemesis? I felt like such and idiot!

"Whoa, since when was Perry so…overprotective of his nemesis?" I heard Peter whisper to Pinky, the latter sighing in response.

"Perry's just so stressed and already angry at himself for almost destroying Doof earlier, he's been freaking out if he gets even a little bit close to staring death in the face again. You can't blame him though. It is a pretty traumatic experience he's going through right now. I still don't think it's healthy for him to be blaming himself for all this though." Pinky explained, sounding slightly concerned about me as he retold my feelings in his own words.

"Perry," Doof said, turning back to me. "It wasn't your fault. It was my fault that they took the stupid car, I was too weak and worthless to do anything about it." he admitted sheepishly, but still tried to sound reassuring.

"Exactly. But if I would have been there they wouldn't have took the car and you wouldn't have been in any danger." I said.

"Perry, please stop blaming all this on yourself." he said, straining to sound more demanding than comforting now. "You're stressed out enough as it is. We're all putting our lives at risk right now. Don't get so frustrated just because you weren't there to protect me for a few moments. I'm fine."

I thought about that for a few minutes, letting his words sink in. Maybe Doofy and Pinky were right, maybe I was being to unconfident of myself, blaming every little thing that happens on my own actions. It's just that I was so tense and worried about everyone, I wasn't taking time to think rationally, or worry at all for myself. But I did have to be overprotective of Doofy. It's the only way I can feel that he's safe until we make it through this, and its better safe than sorry.

"A-alright." I said. "Sorry about that. I am just a little worked up right now."

Suddenly, as if to work me up even more, my wrist watch started beeping frantically, almost giving me a heart attack in the process. Once I recollected myself from the sudden alarm, I quickly turned it off and looked at the monitor with an annoyed expression, wondering what Carl could possibly want that was so urgent. I heard Doof, Peter, and Pinky gather around me to see what the fuss was about. But when the monitor turned on, we all gasped in shock and sudden horror by the alarming sight that we saw.

"M-M-Major Monogram!" Pinky squealed in panic, looking too petrified to say anything else.

"Relax guys, he can't hurt us if he's just calling us." I said, but I discretely hid my own fear behind my words. If Monobrow was calling here, what happened? What was the next part of his insane and cold-hearted scheme? And what had happened to Carl?

"What do you want, Major Dumbass." I said impatiently, again trying to mask my anxiety and look unsurprised by his appearance on my wristwatch.

"Ah, Perry the Platypus. So great to finally speak with you again." the maniacal Major said, in a strange tone of voice. He sounded so cocky about everything, like he was the mass murderer in a horror movie at the top of his game. And why was he calling me 'Perry the Platypus' all of a sudden? He rarely ever called me anything outside of 'Agent P'. Maybe because I was considered a rogue agent now, he wasn't calling me by my agent name anymore. Well, technically he wasn't my boss anymore, so two could play at that game.

"Alright, Francis," I said, mocking his humiliating disgrace of a first name. "I didn't say I wanted to speak with you. I asked what you wanted. Are you finally ready to give up?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll be about ready to give up pretty soon." he responded, with a slight evil gleam in his eye as he said this. And was he smirking? What could he possibly have up his sleeve next?

"What the hell are you talking about? I'll never give up until you see my point! And that pretty much leaves you with no choice. You'll have to run out of agents to come and stop me sometime soon, and I already have another on my side. If anyone's about ready to give up, it's you." I said sternly, glaring at him in aggravation at his spiteful words through the monitor.

"Oh, but I'm sure you'd be willing to give up if it meant saving your loved ones." Francis continued, grinning diabolically again.

"You still don't know what the hell you're talking about psycho! Doofy's right here!" I said, grabbing my nemesis by the collar of his shirt and dragging his face down toward the monitor so my former boss could see. But Doof didn't seem all that happy about being in his presence, even if it was just a video message of him, so he quickly flinched away from my grasp.

"That's not that one I'm talking about…" the evil maniac replied, following with a bone-chilling laugh that made my three friends shudder a little beside me. He didn't scare me though. But…what did he mean by that? Other loved ones? I didn't have any…

Then it hit me.

Before I had any time to react at my sudden realization of his words, Francis focused the monitor away from him and showed something behind him. At first I couldn't make it out, but when he zoomed in a little, it was…my family! I saw Phineas, Ferb, and Candace tied up, desperately squirming and straining to break free of their traps. I-I couldn't believe my eyes! He-he had actually captured them. I found that extremely nasty and malicious for him to do something of this nature. First he tries to annihilate innocent people, including my beloved nemesis. Now that that didn't work, he resorts to capturing CHILDREN? How messed up has my ex-boss become? Did he even realize how sick and cruel his actions were? That was it! He had really crossed the line this time! I took one look at Phineas, Ferb, and Candace struggling helplessly like that, petrified out of their minds and overwhelmingly confused as to where they were and what was going on, and that was enough to set my emotions up in flames. It didn't make want me to give up at all, even if it meant letting them go. I couldn't let this cruel heartless bastard of a man get away with all this malevolent torture he's put me and all my loved ones through! I had to bring him to his senses, cease this craziness once and for all!

I was awakened from my seething rage when I heard cackling on the other line, and I turned back at my little wrist watch to see that he was laughing at me! Francis was loving this! He actually got a kick out of seeing me enraged like this! Well, I'd like to see how hilarious it was when he saw how pissed off I was in person!

"Major Monogram! Would you care to explain what the hell's going on in your dastardly little mind right now, because I'm not even sure you know at this point!" I snapped at him viciously.

I felt Doof, Pinky and Peter tremble a little again, and their warm body heat leave my side a little bit. I didn't blame them for not wanting to be near me right now. I was pretty terrifying when I was this pissed off. I don't think I've ever been this furious at anyone in my life.

"What's going on in my mind? Oh, just a little transaction I'd like to make with you. If you hand yourself over right now, I promise I'll let these little brats go, and even let you live. I'll take back all charges against you, as well. All you have to do is give up your little charade, and hand over Doofenshmirtz to us!" he said, forcing me to growl madly under my breath.

"Wait, you're actually trying to make some sort of deal with me? Give up my nemesis…for my family? What kind of sick twisted moron are you?" I shouted at him viciously through clenched teeth, having to use all my strength and willpower to fight back the urge to rip my wrist watch to pieces and chuck it into the street.

"That's my final offer Perry the Platypus." he bargained.

"You seriously believe that I'd choose between my nemesis and my family? That's the most retarded thing I've ever heard out of a long, long line of retarded things coming out of your mouth lately. What if I asked you to choose between your children?" I asked.

"I don't have any children." Francis said, all emotion drained from his words.

"That's a shock." I muttered. "Like we need more of you running around anyway."

"That's enough chitchat!" he interrupted, apparently getting impatient with my clever remarks. He hated being out-smarted, especially by someone who learned most of their knowledge from him in the first place.

"Just think it over Perry the Platypus!" he continued. "But don't take too long in making your final decision, or its lights out for these three…"

At the last few words, Francis turned the monitor back on Phineas, Ferb and Candace, who were still thrashing about in their strong yet failed efforts to break themselves free. Just the sight of this retched scene made my heart drop, and I unexpectedly found that what he had said was true. This was definitely not an easy choice, no wonder he captured them. Francis may not be very intelligent, but he isn't stupid. He knew that this would be an impossible choice for me to make.

Then suddenly, all my thoughts and feelings of confusion were replaced again with a fiery rage burning deep inside me, and all my emotions burst into flames as he turned the monitor back on himself. He was laughing hysterically to himself again, impressed by what he's accomplished here. I couldn't stand even a second more of this mutiny, if I looked at his twisted face for one more second I knew I would lose it!

"Get the hell off my wristwatch!" I screamed, ripping the little monitor from my arm and chucking it as violently I could into the sidewalk, shattering the glass into thousands of tiny shards on the ground and immediately cutting off the transmission.


	16. Chapter 16

**Perry's POV**

At this point my thoughts were so overpowered by fuming wrath and fury, complete anger and antagonism thrusting through my veins and quickening my heart rate and pulse to full throttle, I barely noticed anything outside of my own aggravation. Once I mentally calmed myself enough that I could at least breathe remotely properly. I whipped myself around to see my three acquaintances quivering uncontrollably in mortal terror at my sudden outrage, huddled together a few feet away.

"Uh, guys?" I said as calm and level headed as I could manage, trying to chase the extreme frustration out of my system long enough to talk to my three terrified friends.

All three of them simultaneously opened their eyes to see me, who was staring at them in bewilderment to their sudden fright. They instantly ceased quaking in fear (well, mostly) once they noticed my more relaxed behavior.

"Ha, sorry Perry." Peter apologized. "You're just, like, REALLY scary when you're mad."

"Well I'm not mad." I said. "I'm FURIOUS! How dare he kidnap my family like that! Major Monogram is going down. Today. We have to get back to Danville as soon as possible guys. Who's with me?"

All three of them exchanged confused and reluctant glances. Then they turned back to me.

"Uh, I really want to help you rescue your family and stuff Perry," Doof started, breaking the awkward silence between the group. "But we can't go back to Danville right now. I mean, if we go back it's sure to just be a trap! Major Monogram will have us all executed and your family too if we showed our faces back there again!"

"Doof's right Perry." Pinky chimed in before I had time to react to my nemesis's explanation. "Not only would we all be doomed, but how are we supposed to get there anyways? We got here by car, but our car was stolen!"

I noticed Doof's expression change back to guiltiness again as soon as Pinky recalled the misfortune with the car, and he blushed a little when everyone briefly looked at him at the remembrance of that incident.

"And on top of all that," Pinky continued, ignoring Doof's embarrassment. "It took us almost a week to get here by car anyways! Even if we did still have Norm, it would take us way too long to get back! Phineas, Ferb, and Candace would probably be dead by the time we even got there."

I let Pinky and Doofy's words sink in for a moment, and I had a sudden realization. They-they were right. There was no way to even get back to the Tri-State Area in time. And even with there was, what was the point of going back? That would just mean we'd all be slaughtered! I couldn't risk that. I knew Major Monogram was lying. He was just trying to lure us all over there by promising to drop my charges and release my family, but I knew he never would. This is just more proof of how sick and twisted my ex-boss has become. He left us at a dead end to our journey. After coming all this way, there was just no way out. There was nothing we could even do anymore.

I sighed at this sudden understanding at our dire and impossible situation. And for the first time, I was actually starting to lose hope. This whole entire incident, starting from the day with that meeting at the O.W.C.A. where I received that life changing news, I never showed any slightest chance of losing hope. I'm Perry the Platypus for crying out loud, I don't need to lose hope! I can accomplish anything, overcome any obstacle! At least, that's what I thought. I was suddenly a little doubtful of my own identity. When Monobrow had ordered us all to destroy our nemeses, I never lost hope. I had confidence that I could change that, and that I could change his mind. And even when that didn't work I knew that I wasn't going to destroy Doofy anyways, and I still had hope that I could make it out of this mess. When everything went wrong and Doofy almost got shot, yeah I was scared out of my mind that that laser was coming straight for his head, but I still had the enough determination to ensure his safety that I was able to think my way out of that situation. Sure it wasn't the smartest thing to do to catapult myself into an on coming laser beam, but I knew that I would make it out alive, and I kept enough confidence to hold my head up high and pick myself back up, even with a gaping hole bored through my arm. And the same thing when we were almost eradicated in that car crash. No matter how scary and devastating it was I never lost that slight speck of hope I had left that we would make it out of there. Same thing when we were trying to persuade Peter to help us. No matter how much he refused, I was still hopeful enough to believe in him, and believe in myself. And my optimism did eventually get him to come along. I've been extremely hopeful this whole trip, and my whole life. Even through the absolute toughest of times, I just shook it off and continued to believe in myself, like I always did.

But now, now of all times was the very first time where I didn't. I was actually becoming doubtful that we would make it out of this. Me, the platypus that fights evil and faces dangers that no other platypus should be able to survive, was suddenly doubtful of my own fate. I've encountered many improbable circumstances through out my life, but for once I couldn't find a way out. For once I truly was trapped, with no way out. I, Perry the Platypus, had finally lost hope.

I felt a small tear stream down my cheek and trickle down the side of my face, stinging slightly as it brushed over my wound. I couldn't believe I was crying for what felt like the hundredth time since the start of our situation. I was completely bewildered as every ounce of hope escaped my body, leaving me feeling utterly empty and disheartened for the first time in my life.

"You, you're right." I struggled to say between tears, barely mouthing the words as they strained to escape my lips. "There's no way out this time. There's no point in even going back to Danville anymore. There's just no chance, not even the slightest bit of hope that we'd ever make it. We don't even have any way of getting there!"

All of a sudden Peter got a strange look on his face, like he had suddenly recalled something of extreme importance that he hadn't mentioned before.

"Wait! I think maybe there is a way we can get back to the Tri State Area in time! Follow me!" he ordered, without even giving any of us a chance to ask questions.

But we followed the panda anyways, and he led us down a couple of blocks in this unforgiving city and surprisingly to another alley way. I wondered where the heck he was leading us, but it still didn't trigger even the slightest sliver of optimism in my mind. I just couldn't get my hopes up with anything anymore.

"Here!" Peter announced as he marched on down the slim opening. It was pretty much the same but nearly twice as wide as the other alley, which meant Pinky, Peter and I didn't have to squeeze to get through and Doof had almost no trouble either. The slim gap suddenly opened up into a small clearing between the buildings, and all I could see through the crack of sunlight that somehow managed to seep through the dim crevice was a couple big pipes and huge stacks of carelessly thrown litter. It looked like such a dump, I silently questioned if Peter even had the right place, wherever he was even taking us.

But the panda was searching around in the limited lighting, finally stopping on the stack of metal pipes lined up against the wall. He pushed them to the side (with a lot more strength than I ever imagined the small, stubby panda bear to possess) and hit a secret brick in the wall. To my surprise, another secret passage similar to the one that led to his lair opened up, revealing yet another dark, never ending tunnel in the wall.

"Here it is!" Peter proclaimed, seeming proud that he even found the hidden passage. "This is my old secret slide that leads straight to Danville!"

"Wow, that tunnel leads all the way back to Danville?" Doof asked uncertainly.

"Yep! How else do you think I get from here to the Tri-State Area so fast?" Peter said, walking over to the tunnel and gesturing for us to follow.

"But is that even possible?" Pinky said a little doubtfully. "Even if it does go all the way from Seattle to Danville, wouldn't it take a while?"

"It's really pretty fast." Peter said. "It works just like the tunnel Perry took to Mount Rushmore once. Well, it takes about a couple hours actually. And I guess that is a pretty long time to spend sliding down a dark dusty tunnel. But it is significantly faster than the 7-day car ride we would have normally took."

"Huh, works for me!" Pinky said gleefully, apparently anticipating the tunnel ride back to Danville.

Pinky and Doof moved closer the passage, ready to go, but I didn't budge. I just didn't understand how they stayed so hopeful, so optimistic about all this. Even when we were in a lose-lose situation, they still continued to be so cheerful and confident that we would make it out of this mess alive. Just like I used to be.

"Coming Perry?" Doof said after a few moments when I didn't follow.

"Guys, really, what's the point?" I said miserably. "Even if we do get there, we have absolutely no chance against them! It's just the four of us up against the entire O.W.C.A! Monogram has us cornered, there's just no possibility that we'll make it out of this alive. As soon as we reach Danville there's gonna be some big trap for us and we'll surely be executed. If we go now, we'd just be walking right into Monogram's sinister trap, we'd be playing his game. So seriously, what the point of even trying anymore?"

The three of them suddenly looked bewildered by my response.

"Perry, what's with you? You've never been this doubtful about anything before. What happened to never giving up?" Doof asked me with concern, befuddled by my sudden disbelieving mood.

"Well sometimes you just have to know when to quit. You have to realize when the odds are stacked against you. Sometimes it's just better to give up." I said mournfully.

Doofenshmirtz stared at me worriedly. He probably thought I'd lost it or something. He was silent for quite a while after that, and he looked like he was at a complete loss of words to my claim.

"No. It's not." Doof said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Perry, you can't give up! You never give up! I can understand one of us suddenly losing hope, but you're the one who always kept us going, Perry. You're supposed to be the one who keeps going no matter what. You're the strong, fast, quick-witted agent that got us through this entire mission so far! If anyone's giving up now, it's not you!" he ordered sternly.

"Well, not anymore." I replied, sighing again. "When there's no hope left, the only thing left to do is give up."

"Now that's not the Perry I've come to love." Doof said, which made me turn to face him in astonishment. Doofy had never really told me he loved me before, it just caught me off guard so much that I found myself staring up at him in disbelief.

Doof smirked a little when he saw my sudden puzzled expression to his remark. He was actually getting somewhere with his motivational speech.

"Who's the platypus who joined the O.W.C.A. to take on the exciting exhilarating life of a secret agent?" he asked.

"I-I am?" I said a little hesitantly.

"Who's the platypus who foils my notorious schemes everyday of his life?"

"I am." I said, a little less uncertainty lingering in my tone now.

"And who's the platypus who set out on a long dreadful journey across the country just to keep me safe from his own boss?"

"I am!" I said with more determination than ever.

"Now who's the platypus that's gonna go kick some Monobrow butt?"

"I am! I'm Perry the Platypus!" I said with all the hope and willpower pulsing back through my veins, the strongest determination I've ever had to do anything burning immensely inside me like a scorching flame. "I can do anything! I'm a banana truck driving, crime fighting, fedora wearing, semi-aquatic, egg laying mammal of action and an improbable personification of unstoppable dynamic fury! I'm Perry the Platypus, and I am not giving up now!"

I couldn't believe it! I felt completely recharged again, and instead of being completely drained of hope I felt invincible! There was nothing I couldn't do, no one I couldn't stop, nothing to get in my way!

And then I remembered Major Monogram. Now that I had all my hope and confidence back times ten, he definitely didn't stand a chance against me. He had my family captured, and he was going to pay. Not just for that, for everything! For all the pain and anguish he put me and my friends through, and for being such a total douchbag this whole time! He definitley needed a butt whooping to knock some sense into his empty head, and I was willing to volunteer. That bastard was going down!

"Come on guys, let's go!" I said, darting over to the secret slide to Danville.

"Wow, I can't believe that pep talk worked so well!" Pinky congratulated my nemesis.

"Eh, it wasn't that hard." Doof said smugly. "If anyone knows Perry, it's me. And I just knew the 'Now that's not the Perry I've come to love' comment would get him."

Without another word, I leaped into the tunnel and started the long slide back to the Tri-State Area, where I would soon learn if being filled to the brim with hope and confidence would pay off. Or if I might as well have been sliding into my own grave.


	17. Chapter 17

**Phineas's POV**

I blinked my eyes open a few times as I gradually came back into consciousness. But as soon as my vision cleared up I might as well have just had my eyes closed anyways, since it was so pitch black I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. I gazed around in the blind darkness, desperately trying to figure out where I was. I had no clue what had just happened, and my memory was still pretty fuzzy about the few things that had happened. I concentrated hard to try and recall what was going on, but I soon realized that I had a splitting head ache as a sharp flash of pain echoed through my head and made me shudder in pain.

Luckily, this did help me remember quite a bit that had happened. I was knocked over the head really hard with something…by these strange men that showed up in our backyard. I remembered being in the backyard moping about the loss of our beloved pet platypus with my brother and sister, and then these weird guys in SWATT team uniforms just came out of nowhere and surrounded us! Then I was knocked out, and didn't remember anything that happened after that. And now I was trapped here, wherever here was, in this dark sinister room all alone.

Wait, Ferb and Candace! I had completely forgotten about my siblings! God I hoped wherever they were they were okay! I had already lost Perry, please don't let me lose them too!

"Ph-Phineas? Is-is that you?"

The sudden voice that seemed to come from behind me startled me enough to make me jump. I stopped breathing all together, scared out of my mind for a few moments until I recollected my mangled thoughts and realized it was just my sister. Though her voice sounded groggy and weak, like she had just woken up as well.

I whirled around to face where Candace's voice had seemed to have come from, but I couldn't make out anything in the black soulless darkness that seemed to swallow the entire room.

"C-Candace?" I stuttered, just barely managing to sputter the words. I realized that I was still shaking in terror, petrified by our surroundings and our entire situation.

"Yeah, over here!" I heard her say, and I was about to follow her voice when a sudden blinding flash of light shone out of nowhere, burning my eyes. One I recovered from my sudden panic, I looked back up and adjusted my eyes from the sudden light, realizing its source instantly. A small blue gleam of light lit up the room, and it was only the light from Candace's cell phone.

I glanced briefly around me, slowly taking in my now vaguely visible surroundings. We were in a very small, dark room, about the size of an average prison cell. Except it wasn't prison, since there were no bars or windows anywhere. The whole room was just completely shrouded in immense darkness, and even in the dim light of Candace's phone I couldn't make out any details. I couldn't even tell if there was a door.

But it was significantly brighter with the tiny yet luminous light source, and I was suddenly extremely thankful for my sister's cell phone.

Then my gaze fell on Candace, and I was very surprised by what I saw. Amazingly she wasn't hurt at all, but I don't think I've ever seen my sister so horrified in her life! In the light of her cell phone I could just barely make out her mortified expression. And she was huddled in a corner of the small cramped room, hugging her knees to her chest. But after a moment I realized that she wasn't hugging her knees in fear, she was tied up like that! Someone had apparently bound thick heavy-duty ropes around her, leaving most of her motions restricted. But despite the fact that her arms were tied pretty tightly, her hands must have been free since she somehow managed to wiggle her arms around to grab her phone from her pocket. I felt so bad for Candace!

I was about to say something to her, and I tried to move towards my big sister, but then I found that she wasn't the only one who was tied up. As I tried to lift my arm something was keeping me restrained, and I suddenly figured out that I was tied up too! Though only my arms were tied up, not my legs. That didn't help much though anyways, I was so overcome with shock and apprehension that I couldn't even feel my legs anymore, never mind move them.

However I still bundled up all my strength that I had left in my body and scooted over closer to Candace until I was huddled in the corner along with her.

"Candace, what's going—" I started to ask weakly, when I was hit with a sudden awareness. "Wait, where's Ferb?" I said, my mood quickly changing from feeble and scared out of my mind to shock and worry.

"F-Ferb?" Candace repeated, sounding as if she hadn't even thought of our step brother until I mentioned him. "I, I don't know, I haven't seen him…"

Then out of nowhere I heard shuffling in a different corner of the room. It started me so much that I nearly jumped out of my skin, and me and Candace screamed simultaneously and huddle together at that unknown sound. But I breathed a huge sigh of relief when Candace shone her phone in the other corner, faintly revealing the green-haired Britt on the other side of the room.

"Ferb! It's only you!" I said gratefully, now feeling silly for being so frightened.

But my fear and shock was nothing compared to my brother's. Just like Candace, I had never seen him so afraid in my life. But Candace always get's scared to the point of screaming at one point, I don't think Ferb ever really gets frightened. His usual blank expression was replaced with one of shock and fear, which spread across his entire face from the nervous frown he wore to his blood-shot restless eyes.

But he still scooted himself over to us, despite the ropes which tied him up as well as they did us. He huddled up on the other side of my sister and we all just sat there, still frozen in panic, not quite knowing exactly what to say.

"Where are we Phineas?" Candace asked worriedly, breaking the silence that seemed to make the pitch-black room even colder as it enclosed around us. I felt her hot, heavy breath fall on the back of my neck, which made me quiver at the sudden change in temperature.

"I, really don't know…how about you Ferb?" I stammered in confusion, my heavy nervous breathing warming the room a bit and drowning out the silence.

I noticed my brother shrug. He was entirely clueless as well.

"Does any one know what just happened to us?" my sister asked again, her voice still shaky and her heavy breathing distraught and uneven.

"All I remembered were these strange men taking us and capturing us…but why? Why were we being arrested? D-did we maybe do something wrong? We haven't even done any big projects in weeks!" I said.

"Maybe we were kidnapped!" Candace said, fear welling up in her eyes as well as her trembling voice.

Then we all abruptly stopped talking when I could have sworn I heard voices from just a couple rooms away. My siblings must have heard it too, since they grew silent and listened closely as well. It was pretty faint, but it sounded like a man was talking in the other room, even yelling a bit.

Then without warning the door was flung open, letting blinding streaks of light flood the room. I had to clamp my eyes shut and turn away from the blinding light as much as I could to keep my eyeballs from burning out of their sockets. I turned back a few moments later and opened my eyes, but surprisingly the light wasn't as bright as it seemed. It's just that my eyes were without daylight for so long I had to adjust them a bit.

But one my eyes were finally adjusted enough that everything wasn't one big blurry blob, I gazed towards the door and gasped in fear when I saw a dark silhouette standing in front of us! Candace and Ferb must have noticed too, since I felt them squirming and flailing around trying to get the man's attention. I started to do the same, and suddenly we all looked like a bunch of fish out of water, wiggling about with limited movement due to the ropes we were tied up in.

We started screaming "Help! Help!" and "Let us out!" to the man, hoping he was a rescuer or a police man trying to save us from this madness. But I noticed that he was…laughing! He was laughing that we were pathetically trying to escape! He wasn't a good guy at all, he must have been the one who captured us and threw us in this unforgiving room in the first place!

The diabolical figure suddenly stepped into the light more, and he was no longer just a dark silhouette in the distance. I could now see every last detail of his face, which was twisted up in a huge evil grin. He looked pretty old, maybe in his late 40's or early 50's. I noticed he had light gray hair that shaped a V on his forehead, and he had a long straight mustache on his face to match. But there was something about the man's eyes that I just didn't like. Usually if I look deep into someone's, anyone's eyes I can always see just a glimmer of good and love in them, no matter how evil the person was. But this man was just so wicked I could find nothing of the sort as I gazed deeply into his soulless eyes as they stared almost lifelessly back. I'm not one to hate many people, but I just didn't like this guy at all, whether he was really our captor or not.

I felt Candace and Ferb shudder a little beside me as he continued cackling at the sight of our fear. I soon found myself trembling too under the cold wrath of the bad man's stare. Then I noticed he was holding something. And pointing it at us! But wait, it wasn't a gun or a weapon or anything, it looked more like some sort of video camera. But before I could really tell why he was recording us the door was slammed shut with tremendous force, shaking the walls of the room so much it made us quiver even more, if that was possible.

I was extremely thankful that the evil, frightening man was gone, but it just left me even more scared and confused. Like, why was he video taping us? Was this some sort of crazed maniac who liked kidnapping people and posting their reactions online? Or maybe he's some sort of mass murderer! Or maybe he's going to sell us to some other mass murderer! Well, there was a world of possibilities to what he may want with us, but whatever it was definitely wasn't for good. And I doubted we would be rescued anytime soon either.

I heard voices in the other room again after a few minutes. But the voices were…different. Before I had only heard this deep, menacing voice talking who I assumed was the strange diabolical man we had just seen. But this time I heard a small, wimpier voice, like that of a teenaged boy, but not deep at all. But it sounded familiar for some reason. I moved closer to the door and pressed my ear to the wall, straining to hear their conversation.

It went kind of like this:

"Carl, I think this plan is going to work out perfectly!" The deep voiced man bellowed proudly.

"Ha ha, that's great sir…" the boy said, but his enthusiasm sounded fake. And there was even hidden guilt and maybe even a little fear behind his words.

"But you know what, there's still one thing missing…" the evil man said.

"What's that sir?" the boy asked.

"You!" the man said, and I suddenly heard the sound of the boy screaming! And maybe even struggling! Had the man captured him?

"Sir, what are you doing?" The boy said between gasps of air, desperately struggling in the man's grasp.

"Carl, I know what you've been up to! I know that you've been helping Agent P, and I just can't have that! It's nothing personal, I hope you understand…" he said, and as I heard the boy shout for help again the room was submerged in light again as the door was thrust open, and someone was thrown in.

The door slammed shut again, blocking out all bits of light before I could see anything, or anyone, for that matter. I scooted closer back to the corner with my siblings, huddling up against them for comfort. I was scared out of my mind now! Who else was in the room with us? Could it be the evil man? Or someone else dangerous?

"Ugh, you won't get away with this Major Monogram!" I heard the newcomer yell weakly, his hateful message apparently meant for someone outside of the room. I realized immediately that the voice was the boy's, the one who had been arguing with the man. Had the evil guy thrown him in here? But besides that, the sound of the boy's voice just sounded so dang familiar, even more now that he was closer to us. But I just couldn't put my finger on where I had heard it before.

"H-hello?" I asked warily, feeling Candace flinch beside me as I addressed the strange boy. She was apparently reluctant for me to get hurt if it was someone dangerous, but I just had the strangest feeling that it wasn't.

"Hello? Phineas? Ferb? Candace?"

My blood ran cold when the boy suddenly addressed all three of us by name. Now I was truly shocked. Who was this person? And how did he know us? I found my self trembling uncontrollably again. Now I wasn't sure whether to trust this kid at all.

"No no! There's no need to be afraid!" he said quickly, probably realizing how suddenly startled we were. "Oh man, I just wish there was some light in here!"

"Huh! Light! Candace quick, hand me your cell phone!" I told my sister, and she did as she was told.

I took the phone and turned it on, blinding me with an immense blue light just as before. I pointed it away from eyes and tried to aim the light across the room where the voice was coming from.

When the light landed on the boy, I could finally see him clearly enough to see exactly what he looked like. He was short and kind of scrawny, even though he looked about Candace's age. And his face was speckled with red freckles to match his curly scarlet hair. He wore huge purple-rimmed glasses over his big innocent blue eyes, which unlike the maniacal man we had encountered earlier showed no signs of evil at all.

I couldn't believe it, this kid even looked familiar! But my brain just wouldn't register what I recognized about him…

"Oh, that's better." he said, picking himself up from the floor and adjusting his crooked glasses and turning to face the three of us.

"H-How do you know our names?" Candace asked suspiciously.

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself, I'm Carl!" he announced.

The name clicked in my brain and I suddenly remembered something. I was able to match his name with his face now. I remembered! We had met Carl before!

"Oh, Carl! I remember you! You helped us with our anti-gravity fun launcher before!" I said.

"Yes, that's where you know me from, but I've known you way before that actually." he said.

"What do you mean?" Candace asked distrustfully.

"Well, it's a long story actually." Carl said. "A very long, painfully confusing story…"

"Well there's nothing else to do since we're trapped in here." Ferb mentioned. I was relieved to hear his voice for once. He was being even quieter than usual today.

"Alright, let me start from the beginning…" Carl started. "Okay, so you know your pet platypus Perry? Well you may only know him as a mindless domesticated animal, but he's really been hiding something from you all these years you've known him. Perry the Platypus is secretly a secret agent super spy that works for our agency."

I was completely stunned. I was expecting something pretty weird, but I never would have dreamed that he would have said something like that! I couldn't believe it, yet it made so much sense! If Perry really was a secret agent or something like Carl had claimed, than that definitely explained where he goes everyday. And every time we just expected him to be doing nothing, he must have actually been doing something!

"Oh my gosh, that explains so much!" I said in astonishment. "That must be where Perry goes everyday, and that also explains the weird base we found underground huh Ferb? I guess you really didn't build that after all."

Ferb rolled his eyes. "I've been _trying_ to tell you that!"

"Wait, that also explains that time we went over Grandma and Grandpa's house and I thought I was delusional when I touched the orange moss!" Candace added. "When I thought I was just seeing things but I really wasn't I remember seeing Perry with a secret agent hat on some sort of mission or something. Oh! And I guess that clarifies that 'Wizard of Oz' dream I had with him in it too!"

"Yes, it's true." Carl continued. "Your beloved pet platypus is a secret agent, and has been working in our agency for years right under your noses."

"Wait," I stopped him, recalling something. "You said 'our' agency. Carl, are you maybe a secret agent too?"

"No, only the animals are." he said. "But I do work in this organization as well. Well, I used to. I guess I'm not really a part of the agency now anyway, since I went against them."

"You went against your own agency?" I repeated. "But why? It seems like such a fun job!"

"It is, until now." he admitted, sighing. "But I'm not the only one. Perry went rebellious too."

I gasped. "Perry went against the agency too? But wait, where is Perry? What happened to him? He's been missing for so long!" I said, struggling not to cry at the mere mention of our missing pet.

"Let me start from the beginning of our current situation." Carl said. "About a week ago, our agency had this huge meeting with all the agents. Now I just figured it would be some boring regular meeting, but it changed all our lives forever! My boss Major Monogram, he's that man who captured us, had decided that in order to stop more evil at once all our agents should destroy their regular nemeses. You see, each animal agent has this one evil scientist that they go off to fight everyday, but they only have one nemesis, and Monogram thought that they should be able to fight more evil. But Agent P, (that's Perry's agent name) disapproved of destroying his nemesis."

"Disapproved?" Candace said curiously. "Why didn't he want to destroy him if he's his nemesis? Aren't they supposed to hate each other?"

"I'm getting to that part." Carl said. "Perry and his nemesis Dr. Doofenshmirtz had always hated each other in the past, but over the years they kind of grew on each other and became frenemies. They even consider each other best friends, as Doofenshmirtz had once admitted. So you could imagine how mad it made Perry when he was suddenly ordered to destroy him. But Monogram forced him to destroy his nemesis anyways. I thought he was just going to listen to his boss and get over it and do as he was told, but Perry discretely escaped with Doof, along with the aid of another agent. Agent Pinky, who you may know as your little friend Isabella's dog."

I gasped. Pinky was a secret agent too? Wow, I wondered how many other things we didn't know about our seemingly normal lives and pets…

"So anyway," Carl continued. "Major Monogram soon found out that Perry hadn't really destroyed his nemesis, and he sent a bunch of his other agents after them to destroy all three of them."

"That's just terrible!" I interrupted. "Why would Perry be suddenly scheduled to be executed just for saving his friend? And why would Pinky be in trouble for helping him? And come to think of it why should Doofenshmirtz be destroyed in the first place? If Perry loves him that much he can't be that evil."

"That's sick!" Candace chimed in. "Why would this man murder so many people just to do good? Even if they are evil scientists it still doesn't make any sense!"

"That's just my boss for you." Carl said. "He really used to be a nice guy, but he's changed. Lately he's completely gone off the deep end, especially with this horrible mission."

"Wow, that's an understatement." Candace said.

"You bet it is. Now allow me to continue please," Carl said. "Now where was I? Oh, right. So Perry, Pinky and Doof set out on a road trip to make it all the way to Seattle. They were going to meet up with an old friend that might have been able to help clear their names. Well, I guess you couldn't really call him a friend of Perry's but whatever, let's not get into _that_ story. So they got there and they found the other agent, Peter the Panda. So now they were about to head back here and try to knock some sense into Major Monogram but my boss somehow hacked into the video translator I've been using to communicate with them. He told Perry that he had captured you three, knowing it would enrage him."

"Wait, that's how we got involved in this?" Candace said irritably. "How sick and twisted is this guy to resort to kidnapping us just to get to a platypus?"

"Oh, it get's sicker." Carl said. "Get this, Monogram actually tried to make a deal with Perry. He said he'd let you guys go if Perry killed his nemesis!"

"Good, so why didn't he?" Candace said crossly. "Doesn't Perry love us more than his stupid nemesis? Why didn't he just choose us!"

"Candace, don't you understand?" I said a little angrily to my aggravated sister. "Perry loves both sides of his double life! His boss was trying to make him choose between both his families! That's why he could never have chosen us over his nemesis or his nemesis over us. Major Monogram left him in a dead end situation."

"Exactly Phineas." Carl agreed. "So now I have no idea what Perry's going to do, since Monogram found out that I was trying to help him this whole time and he threw me in here with you."

"So, we're all doomed here pretty much." Candace said, still annoyance in her voice.

"Yep. That is unless Perry finds a way to rescue us." Carl said.

"But that would mean having to give up his nemesis." Ferb pointed out.

"Not necessarily," Carl said a little hopefully. "If there's one thong I know about Agent P from working with him all these years, it's that he always has some sort of new trick up his sleeve. He'll find someway around this, I just know he will!"

But even I grew a little doubtful of our pet. I was so grateful that he had even made it alive this far, I figured he was a goner for sure! But even if he was this awesomely powerful top-notch secret agent like Carl claimed he was, I couldn't help wondering if he could really pull it off. If he had been through so many things as a secret agent, like traps and gadgets and explosions and crimes and villainous evildoers intent on destroying our very way of life, could he really pull off the hardest test of all? Choosing between loved ones? Alas, all I could do was hope, and I crouched down and hugged my knees, silently praying that we would make it out of this alive.


	18. Chapter 18

**Doofenshmirtz's POV**

The doors of what I believed was the O.W.C.A. head quarters were burst open in fury, making such a loud banging sound as they slammed against the wall that I flinched a little. As soon as the four of us had slid down the long tunnel to Danville (which was excruciatingly boring and the tunnel was absolutely filthy) we immediately headed for the underground headquarters where Perry's former boss waited.

As soon as we arrived Perry's adrenaline levels instantly spiked up again as he became closer and closer to the sinister man he was about ready to strangle. The look on the extremely furious platypus's face just made me shudder. The mere thought of what might be running through my nemesis's mind at this very moment forced me to tremble in fear. What would Perry possibly to do Major Monogram? Would he hurt him? Fight him? _Kill_ him? Truthfully I didn't really care what terrible consequences awaited the sick bastard, but I strangely felt like this was a really bad idea. I mean if Monobrow lured Perry over here by capturing his family, then he obviously knew that Perry was ready to kill by now. So he must be prepared for this. This whole thing…it just wasn't right. Something, or more like someone was going down, and I just had the weirdest feeling that it wasn't Major Monogram.

After Perry hastily burst open the doors, his nostrils practically fuming as he snorted in fury, he looked around the room a bit, scanning the area for the dastardly murderer. But he didn't have to look for too long, because soon a deep, menacingly evil voice boomed from the other side of the room and echoed off the walls, forcing us all to jump simultaneously, well, except Perry. He was better at controlling his reflexes.

"Ah, if it isn't Perry and his little friends." the Major bellowed as he stepped out of the shadows into full view, a devilish smile plastered across his crooked face. I had to look away, I just couldn't stand being in the presence of someone so evil, even eviler than ME! And on top of that he was the one who caused all this, the one who was trying to kill me. The one that put my friend through all that pain and suffering. No, I just couldn't bear being in his diabolical gaze, couldn't look into his dark soulless eyes.

And yet I couldn't look away.

It's not that I wanted to see him this way, but he had changed so much since he was, you know, good. I had to take in every last aspect of his new appearance, see how much he had drastically altered, and see what we were up against. Monogram looked like a mess. His hair was frizzy and all over the place like it hadn't been properly brushed in weeks. His clothes were a mess, as if he hadn't even changed them. Deep black rings formed under his eyes, twice as worse as the ones that hung under my own eyes from lack of sleep. But besides his sloppy, sleep deprived exterior, there was something dark lurking in his eyes. There was something much more than evil lurking behind that horrifying grin. I saw more angst, and maybe even a little grief behind his forced expression. Almost as if he was dreading this. But no, it couldn't be. I must be imagining things. He wouldn't feel sorry for us or anything he did! He's the bad guy here! But…I could have sworn he looked just the slightest bit tormented right then…

"Alright Francis," Perry said sternly, but tried to restrain from shouting and kept a relatively calm voice. "You have two options. Option one, you let my family go, leave my nemesis alone, and you'll probably get out of this with only minor injuries. Option two, you get the beat-down of a lifetime courtesy of me, and possibly won't make it out of this alive. Make a wise decision."

"Oh, that won't be necessary." he said in response, not even the slightest sign of terror on the Major's face. "I'm afraid your options are more like hand over your nemesis to us now and you get your family back, or get arrested and possibly executed along with your family, nemesis, and your friends."

"You know that I can't choose either of those." Perry pointed out.

"And why is that?" Monogram replied.

"Because, I would never choose between saving my nemesis and my family, I already told you that!" Perry snapped, his voice gradually getting louder with every aggravating thing his ex-boss said.

"Oh, that," Monobrow said, trying to sound like he had just remembered that minor detail. "I still don't understand that. I mean you hate your nemesis and you love your family. I would think your choice would be pretty obvious."

I grunted. Monobrow was even more clueless than I ever imagined. He was completely oblivious to our entire relationship! I supposed he would have at least figured that part out by now, but he still thought we hated each other! Wow, he's slow…

"That is not true!" Perry shouted across the huge, vacant room, his harsh screams bouncing back off the walls and making him seem ten times louder and more menacing. "I don't hate my nemesis! God, how dumb are you?" he yelled, more irritated at the Major than angry now.

"Whatever, I don't have time to discuss this matter!" Monobrow said inconsiderately. "Now hand him over, or face the dire consequences!"

"No." Perry said. "Make me."

"If you wish…" Monobrow said, laughing diabolically, signaling Perry over, as if to indicate a fight.

Peter, Pinky, and I stayed frozen in our places, too frightened to move towards the deranged major. But Perry cautiously moved to the middle of the room, carefully scanning his surroundings and looking out for any sort of traps that may snap up at him. But besides the circle of light that beamed in the center of the huge circular room, it was too dark to see on the side lines. Once Perry had crossed to the center of the big room without being captured, I suddenly wished that he had been paying more attention to the edges of the room rather then focusing on any traps in his way.

As soon as Perry was in the very center of the spotlight, shadows moved slowly out of the darker corners of the room, and as they stepped into the bright light I realized they were agents! There were so many of them, maybe 40 or 50 in all! All the animal agents closed in around my nemesis, forming a circle around him, leaving the platypus no chance of escape. I was so worried! Would they attack him? If all those agents attacked the poor little platypus at once, no matter how fierce of a fighter Perry was he would surely be a goner!

I felt my knees knocking together as my body started trembling uncontrollably all over. I was scared. Scared for my self, for my nemesis, for Pinky and Peter. This was it. This was the end. We were all doomed to die here under the wrath of Major Monogram and all the agents following him. There couldn't possibly be a way out now, coming here was just a HUGE mistake.

I noticed Perry was shivering a little too, but he didn't say anything. He just struggled to keep his stance, trying to tough out the fear as always. But I could see the terror behind his deep brown focused eyes as he looked over the crowd of fierce agents, struggling to stand on his own two webbed feet.

"Where's your tough talk now, huh Perry?" Monogram mocked him, laughing. "What happened to the tough little rogue platypus that was ready to kick my butt?"

"You big cheating liar!" Perry snapped at him. "If you have to be such a coward that you can't even fight me your self than you're even more pathetic and stupid than I thought you were!"

"Back to the attitude again." Monogram said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe this will teach you a lesson Perry."

Monobrow snapped his fingers, and in an instant about half the agents surrounding Perry started coming at him. They all looked like they were trying to pin him down at once. Not such a smart move, they should have worked out a better strategy than just dog piling him. But even if they did have a better plan none of them would have been much of a match for my nemesis. In fact most of the animals looked pretty terrified to even approach Perry.

The first three agents that tried to tackle him all got knocked clear out of the air with a swipe of Perry's tail before they even hit him. A couple other unlucky animals that followed their lead slammed into each other with a painful sounding 'THUMP' as Perry moved to the side to dodge the move. Just like that there were already three dazed agents and another two out cold on the floor before you could even comprehend what had just happened to them. Perry didn't even bat an eyelash.

Monogram looked dumfounded, but his flabbergasted expression cleared up as he struggled to look unimpressed.

"Well, well, well, it looks like someone paid attention in training." he muttered loud enough that Perry could hear. But Monogram sounded pretty irritated.

"Maybe if you gave me more experienced agents it'd be a little more of a challenge." Perry said with boredom lurking in his tone, almost as if he wanted more of a challenge. "Do you have anything better than insignificant little rookies or was that the best you got?"

"Oh, it sounds like someone's pretty confident today." Monogram said.

With the snap of his fingers, another group of agents came in from the circle they formed around Perry and assumed their fighting stances. At least these guys had a better plan than just randomly darting towards Perry and jumping on him. (Or at least attempting to.)

The next 5 or so agents that approached him surrounded him, walking cautiously in a circle around Perry. But my nemesis just yawned. He looked a little more wary of what these guys had in store for him, but he still wore the same slightly bored and tired look on his face as always. It was the very same look Perry gave me just about everyday when I was rambling through my evil scheme monologue and he was just sitting lazily in his trap, giving me a look that said 'Can you get any dumber?'. But Perry had a reason to give me that look, because I'll admit that am a little dumb sometimes, and not such a great fighter. I thought Perry should be more worried about these guys, whether they were slightly lower ranked agents or not. I just had the worst feeling, like Monobrow had more up his sleeve than just this.

I turned to face the Major, briefly glancing over his expression, which looked pretty devilish and conniving. His devious smile crooked upward, taking up nearly his entire face. Then he nodded his head at one of the agents nearest him, as if to give some sort of discrete signal that he was trying to hide from us. I wondered what on earth he could be planning, when suddenly the whole scene in the room changed.

A bunch of the agents that were formerly surrounding my nemesis now focused their gazes on us, well me in specific. A couple smaller groups of agents lunged for Peter and Pinky, forcing them to the floor as they struggled to break free.

The rest of them were staring at me, which freaked me out a bit. But I almost had a heart attack when they all whipped out deadly little ray guns from behind their backs and aimed them straight for my head! I gasped and threw my hands up in surrender, beads of greasy, nervous sweat moistening my face. This was it, this was the end! I was going to die here!

"DOOF!" I heard Perry scream as his gazed fixed up on me from across the room. I opened my eyes again and glanced around, my vision falling on Perry, who was still in the center of the room desperately trying to push past the animals that were now holding him down. Now I saw what Major Monogram was up to! He was only trying to distract Perry by making it look like he was just going to send in agents to battle him, but his real plan was to get to me when Perry couldn't protect me. This guy was even sicker than I thought!

But Perry wasn't giving up. He was still struggling with the agents who were surrounding him even quicker now, but he still managed to fight them off one by one, gradually making his way towards me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Perry." Monogram boomed, his deep menacing voice echoing even over the chaotic mass of noise that now filled the gigantic room.

Then a door on the other end of the massive room opened up, and some more agents came out, dragging some people into the room with them. The people looked like prisoners, as they were bound up in ropes and being dragged into the room like slaves. They all looked pretty young though, two little boys and two teenagers. I even recognized one of the teenagers as Carl, Monogram's little intern friend. I figured he must have gone rebellious too, since he was also being dragged out like a prisoner. Carl had a look of anger and aggravation on his face towards his former boss, but the kids looked severely confused and oblivious as to what was going on.

I glanced back at my nemesis, who was no longer looking at me but the new comers in the room. His eyes were opened wide, a look of shock and bewilderment spread across his face. I realized that the teenaged girl and the two boys must be his family. Gosh, I felt so sorry for Perry, having his family tied up like that, scared out of their minds and at the same time I was over hear on the brink of death scared out of my mind. Now I completely understood what Monogram was doing, trying to confuse Perry so he wouldn't know who to save and he'd be easier to defeat!

"Oh, now what are you going to do?" Monogram said between hearty laughs at Perry's expense. "What will you ever do now? Save your family and leave you nemesis to die, or save your nemesis and leave your family to die? Ha! I'd love to see you get out of this one!"

"You sick twisted bastard!" I heard someone scream, and looked down to notice that Pinky had managed to push a bunch of the agents off of him and stand up on his own hind legs again. He looked more furious than ever. "Stop doing this to poor Perry and let his family go!"

"Hey, what about me?" I added.

"You're included in the category of Perry's family." Pinky said.

"Oh shut up you stupid worthless big-eared little Mexican rat!" Monobrow said nastily to Pinky, making him whimper a little in sorrow.

But then Pinky's ears flew back and he bared his little teeth, growling viciously at the Major. I realized that the whole room had gone almost completely silent now, all attention focused on the argument between Monogram and Pinky now.

"No one talks to me that way!" he said through clenched teeth, hurriedly weaving his way through crowd on all fours now and approaching the Major.

"This is for Perry, Doofy, Carl, Peter, Candace, Ferb, and my owner's future husband!" Pinky said as he jumped up and to my surprise bit Major Monogram…but not exactly the place you want to be bit my a dog.

Suddenly the room went from completely silent to an applause of gasps and screams bursting from the crowd, and of course the screams coming from the Major. I think every guy in this entire room flinched a little at the sight of that. I know I sure did. I mean, OUCH! I almost felt sorry for him a little there!

Then after that little incident the entire scene changed again. As Monobrow was distracted with the immense pain he was undergoing and the other agents were confused, it was our time to fight back now. I noticed the agents in front of me had dropped their guns in the commotion, and I was safe for once! I looked over at Perry, who seemed to notice this too, as a faint smile spread across his face.

Before anyone had a chance to recollect their thoughts enough to even realize what was going on, Perry escaped the grasps of the agents that were holding him back and made his way across the room to me, knocking agents to the floor along the way. Once he got over here to me, I noticed Peter run over out of the thick crowd too, and Pinky pranced over with a look of delight and triumph on his face.

"Alright, it's only a matter of time before everyone realizes what's going on, so I need you guys to listen!" Perry ordered. "Pinky, I need you to go over there and free Phineas, Ferb Candace and Carl. Peter you stay here and protect Doofy for me. If you see one agent aiming a gun for his head knock their lights out! I'm going to try and take care of as many agents as I can before Monogram…uhhhh…pieces his balls back together. Now go!"

Without another word, Pinky squeezed his tiny Chihuahua body across the room again through the mob of bewildered agents. Peter remained his position near me, already fighting off some agents that finally came out of their disorder long enough to pick up their guns. Perry went back towards the center of the room to fight, and I was left here with no instruction at all.

I was a little irritated at Perry. Why wasn't I allowed to do anything? Why was I the one who needed to stay protected instead of being able to fight? I realized that I was the main target here to be annihilated, but I deserved to help to! I could at least fight for my self instead of having Peter do it! But reluctantly, I just did what I was told. I was honestly still a little too stunned to move anyways, never mind fight. I guessed Perry knew what he was doing more than I did, so I just decided to wait out the chaos.

I glanced in the direction of Major Monogram, who looked like he had just finally woken up from his painful experience. He frantically took in the scene before him, appalled by what he saw! Pinky was untying his prisoners, I was no longer being held up at gun point, and all the while Perry was fighting off and defeating the rest of his agents one by one. His supply of agents was rapidly decreasing, going down from about 40 to 50 to now only about 10 or 15. Most of the animals had been knocked out, their unconscious bodies lost somewhere in an ocean of raging battles breaking out between Perry and the agents left. And a bunch of the agents had actually fled the scene, running back into the corners and abandoning their mission before they could get hurt.

"Alright, that's enough nonsense!" Monogram bellowed as loud as he could, instantly quieting the room again. The rest of the scene seemed to move in slow motion as Monogram pulled some sort of remote out of his pocket and pressed a button, releasing a cage from the ceiling that dropped on my nemesis, concealing him in a small prison-like box of iron bars. Then with Perry suddenly out of the way, all the remaining agents turned their attention toward Pinky and Peter, the only two left fighting. They were held down and dragged to the side lines, unable to help Perry anymore. Also both me and Perry's family were held up at gun point again, and all senses of freedom in me were replaced with fear again.

All this happened before I could even think or comprehend what was going on. Almost instantaneously the room was cleared out, me, Pinky, Peter, Perry's family and the remaining agents all standing in the sidelines of the huge circular room, only Perry and Monogram in the huge spotlight now.

"So Perry the Platypus, this is where the charade ends." Monogram said, strolling over to Perry's cage and grinning proudly ear to ear.

"This isn't over Francis!" Perry snapped, grasping the iron bars of the cage with great strength.

"Ah, you still think you have the balls to stop me?" Monogram asked.

"I wouldn't be saying that if I were you, considering you no longer have any balls thanks to Pinky." Perry said. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I couldn't help giggling a little bit at that remark.

"That's the last of you cute little remarks, Perry the Platypus." Monogram said sternly, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small ray gun and aiming it for Perry's head.

I gasped. I had never been so scared in my life! What would become of my beloved nemesis now? I silently prayed that he would stay alive, trying hard to look away from the scene, but at the same time I couldn't bare to look away.

"Now, I'm giving you one final chance." Monogram continued. "You can get out of this alive and go home with your family safe and sound like this never happened. Pinky and Peter will have all charges against them dropped as well, and they'll be sent back to their families too."

I noticed Peter the Panda flinch out of the corner of my eye when Monobrow mentioned his family. I knew he didn't have one, so I understood why that would upset him.

"You can get every last one of your loved ones out of this whole mess safely and unscathed," Monogram continued. "If you just simply hand over your nemesis for execution."

I heard Perry growling deep in his throat. I could tell how absolutely infuriated he was right now, as if I was feeling his own anger welling inside me. I couldn't imagine how enraged Perry was after a comment like that. Major Monogram was giving him the absolute hardest choice of his life while holding him up at gun point, so I figured how stressed my nemesis must be. But even though I knew Perry would never give me up for the world, I couldn't help wondering why. I mean Perry had three kids, Carl, Pinky and Peter at stake here. Why would he risk all their lives and his own just to save my life? I knew I meant a lot to Perry for some reason or other, but was I really that important to my nemesis? Let's face it, I was never very smart. My evil schemes are completely pointless and my efforts hopeless. I wasn't the least bit attractive and could barely get a girlfriend for more than a day. My parents hate me, my brother hates me, my wife divorced me. I only managed to put one child on the face of this earth and even she's embarrassed to be seen with me. I was the stupidest, ugliest, most hopelessly unattractive loser in the entire world with absolutely no one to love me! This made me extremely clueless as to why Perry loved me. I was his nemesis! I was evil, well at least I tried to be evil. I bore the hell out of him with my boring evil scheme monologues, there was just no hiding the annoyed expression displayed on his face when he came to foil me everyday. I knew I was getting less and less exciting with every last battle, and yet he still kept me as his nemesis. Despite how much my family and loved ones and even the whole world gave up on me entirely Perry never did. He still loved me. But I just couldn't imagine why. Of all people to love…what on earth did Perry see in me?

Well whatever the reason he loved me, I knew Perry wouldn't let me go. Or his family, or his other friends. We didn't come here to just give up, and I knew Perry was never giving up. He was out there risking his very life for me, as he had been throughout this whole situation from the start. And it was about time I did the same for him.

"Never!" Perry snapped in response to his ex-boss's previous question.

"Someone's determined." Monogram said. "Do you really expect to get out of this alive?"

"No." Perry said. "I doubt I'll live through this, but I do expect to get my friends out alive. Even if I have to die for them!"

I was in awe at Perry's response. Was he seriously willing to get himself killed for all of us?

"So be it." Monogram said, shrugging as if he didn't care either way. I couldn't believe that he was so careless about the subject, as if he didn't really mind if he had to execute his best agent. Well, I guess I should believe that Monogram was that crazy at this point in the situation. I suppose it was believable, considering all the other sick torture he had put us all through before.

Monogram aimed the gun for Perry's head again, and I felt tears trickle uncontrollably down my face and onto the hard linoleum floor. This was it, this was where Perry was going to be killed. I couldn't have this happen! I couldn't, after all we've been through together, just let him die this way! This wasn't right; I just had to do something!

With all my strength I wiggled my hands, trying to free myself of the agents that held me back. When that didn't work and their grips only tightened, I pulled my arms back with so much force that it sent the two agents flying backwards, freeing myself. Monogram, having not noticed any of this, had his finger just ready to squeeze the trigger on the gun he held, which would seal the fate of my nemesis forever, when I dashed across the room and lunged between them.

Luckily he didn't shoot, for I had startled him too much, but he only staggered backwards in awe. I turned my head just the slightest bit to flash a quick glance down at Perry, who was gripping the bars of his cage even tighter now. He looked pretty relieved, but exceedingly worried and anxious about whatever I was doing. And I wasn't even quite sure what I was going to do now that I had Monogram's attention. I should have thought that through more.

"Grrr! Doofenshmirtz!" Monogram said angrily through clenched teeth. "How dare you interrupt my execution? I'll shoot you sooner if I have to!"

He aimed the gun towards my head now as a threat. I was sure he was going to fire, so I felt my knees automatically knocking in fear again, but I bundled up all my courage and tried to speak.

"Oh please please please Major Monogram!" I pleaded weakly, dropping to my knees. "Please don't kill Perry! None of this was his fault! You should kill me instead! I know I'm not that evil and I still don't understand why I was scheduled to be eradicated in the first place, but you're welcome to destroy me if it means sparing Perry's life! He means everything in the world to me and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything bad happened to him just because I was too chicken to stand up for myself. You see, Perry's really been saving me and protecting me from, well, everything over this past week. I felt like I wasn't being such a good friend, since I wasn't really able to fight for myself. I just felt so helpless, like I always needed him to protect me. But now I'm the one who has to protect him. So please Major Monogram, if you're going to shoot anyone, let it be me. Let me be the one to be killed today, and let Perry and his family and his friends go back home and just forget that any of this ever happened."

When I finished my speech, I heard sniffling behind me. I whirled around on my knees and turned to face Perry, who was tearing up. But I couldn't tell if they were tears of joy or mournfulness as his immense brown eyes stared up at me strangely.

"I can't believe you would risk your life for me." he said between sobs, walking up to the bars of the cage to come closer to me.

"Of course I would Perry the Platypus." I said sincerely, my big dark blue eyes spilling tears of sadness as well. "Because I love you."

After that comment I vaguely heard an ocean of gasps and aww's from the crowd of people and agents around us. Even the animal agents on Monogram's side were staring at us admirably, as if my sudden confession was like the climax scene of a soap opera or something. But I really wasn't paying much attention to anyone else in the room. All the other noise and conversation just kind of faded into the background as I stared deeply into the innocent brown eyes of my nemesis through the tick iron bars of the cage. I carefully slipped my arms though the bars and wrapped them around Perry as tight as I could, trying to simulate a hug. It was pretty hard since the cage was in my way, but Perry was purring softly now so I guessed the embrace was close enough for him. The whole world just seemed to blur and the noise and movement around us unfocused into the distance, and time even seemed to slow to a standstill as this heartwarming moment took place. Despite our dire circumstances, absolutely everything in the universe seemed to be perfect—no, more than perfect—in these few short but meaningful moments.

"Aww, that's very, very touching Dr. Doofenshmirtz." Monbrow's voice echoed through the room, silencing absolutely everyone's conversations instantly and unfortunately breaking the beautiful moment between me and my nemesis. I turned back around and glared up at him furiously, more annoyed with the inconsiderate jerk than afraid of him now.

"But I'm afraid that doesn't make me feel any more sorry that I have to execute you Perry the Platypus." he said unsympathetically, whipping his gun back out from behind his back. "Now step out of my way Doofenshmirtz before I shoot you both!"

I was extremely alarmed by this. Did Monobrow have a heart at all? I remained frozen on the floor, kneeling beside Perry's cage. My instincts and fear were overwhelming me, trying to get me to scramble out of the way and get as far away from that gun as possible. But my thoughts were clouded by the faint sound of Perry's petrified whimpering behind me. Just the sight of the mortified platypus pressed up against the bars of his cage to get as close to me as possible whilst he prepared for death told me otherwise. I had never seen Perry this frightened in m life, and now of all times I was not giving up on him. My nemesis was getting out of this mess alive one way or another.

"N-No!" I said firmly, picking myself up from the cold hard floor and standing my ground in front of the huge metal cage. "I don't care what you say anymore! I will not sit here and just allow my nemesis to die!"

"I said get out of my way!" he ordered harshly, rearing his fist back and landing a hard blow to the side of my face. I fell backwards under the impact, making a loud and severely painful thud on the floor. I rubbed my face where he had punched me, still a little stunned. But I ignored the pain. Perry's life was a much more important matter right now, I could feel pain for myself later.

But it looked as if I was already too late! Monogram had knocked me back a couple feet, and his finger was already brushing over the trigger of his gun, and Perry would surely be shot within a matter of seconds if I didn't act fast.

"Perry, no!" I shouted, diving directly into the path of the oncoming bullet just as soon as Monogram pulled the trigger.


	19. Chapter 19

**Doofenshmirtz's POV**

The loud bang of the gun had drowned out all other sounds in the room, echoing back off the walls of the large vacant room with extreme intensity. My ears started ringing a little at the huge and sudden sound. But immediately after the shot had rung out the room fell absolutely silent.

I had no clue what had just happened, honestly. I knew Monogram had fired his gun, but what exactly just happened? Was my nemesis alright? Was he still alive? As soon as I attempted to move it was suddenly very clear to me who had gotten shot.

As I made an effort to pick myself up a searing flash of severe pain ripped up the side of my body from my torso, and I plopped myself back down onto the floor, clutching my chest in sheer agony. I made an effort to turn my head just the slightest bit so I could at least see for myself for what had happened, but I was too weak to even do that without another flash of pain coursing through my nerves and making me flinch in throbbing pain again. I felt the warm, red liquid pouring from my chest and drenching the hand that still clutched my wound. I had never seen a shot gush that much blood before in my life. I thought I might pass out just from the rusty smell of blood that was making my nose cringe.

My head was killing me at the same time, and everything was starting to blend together in my mind, everything I saw was becoming a big fuzzy blob as I slowly lost my vision. My hearing was gradually deteriorating as well as I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness. But no! I couldn't black out now, I had to stay awake! I had to know what was going on…had to at least know that Perry was okay. The thought of my nemesis was really the only thing that kept me willing enough to stay awake right now.

But the excruciating pain was just too unbearable…my wound was oozing more crimson blood by the second. It felt like there was already a huge pool of it surrounding me, as I was drowning in an ocean of my own suffering.

I could just barely hear voices around me—very faint in the distance. I thought I heard a deep voice that sounded like Major Monogram's…but I couldn't recognize Perry's. Was he alright? Was he still alive? Had my diving in front of the bullet saved him…or did Monogram shoot him too?

I couldn't think anymore. I was becoming less and less able to even keep my eyes open by the second. I felt really dizzy now, my sudden headache worsening. It was almost like the whole world was spinning as the pain emerging from the bullet hole in my chest intensified. I was in too much agony to even find my voice or cry out.

Then I felt my consciousness slipping again. But this time it felt like more than just my mind was going blank. It was different than falling asleep or blacking out. It seemed as if I was losing my senses as well. Like my whole body was going numb, I could no longer feel the blood soaking my hand, and I couldn't move at all even if I tried, but oddly it wasn't because of the pain this time, since I could no longer feel that either. The voices around me were fading into the background, and as was the blur of objects and movement around me as my eyelids closed automatically, as if I was too frail to even hold them open anymore. I could no longer smell or taste any blood anymore, either. But as my individual senses shut down amazingly I still remained conscious, even though it felt as if my mind was leaving my body all together.

What was happening to me? It took me a few moments in my drained state to put it all together, but I finally understood. If I was shot with that much blood spewing from my chest, than there was no possible way I could have lived much longer than a couple of minutes if my heart was pierced. I must have been dead. Yes, this is what it felt like to die. And I have to say, it was the absolute most peculiar feeling in the world. My mind was still fully awake, and my thoughts were still present. But they had left my body completely. I had no sight or smell or hearing or voice or even a sense of touch anymore. But my mind—my spirit—was still very much present.

Nonetheless I still felt as if I was just gone, evaporated off the face of the planet. I was completely enclosed in a shroud of unlimited eternal darkness. It compressed me where I was and left me with no way out, almost as if I was caught in the never-ending soul-sucking vacuum of space. But I was afraid, frightened out of my mind at this strange place in my own mind. It was so empty, and I felt so alone. I didn't like this everlasting pitch-black darkness that seemed to swallow me whole. I was so alone here. Was I going to stay here forever? Or would I go to heaven? Or perhaps in a worse case scenario…hell. But even if I was going to hell, the land of eternal tortures sounded better than having to stay trapped here as a bodiless spirit forever. Anything would be better than this!

But wait…was I seeing things? I thought I saw a light somewhere in the distance. But no…it just simply couldn't be. I had lost my sense of vision all together…how could I be seeing this strange light suddenly? I sort of vaguely recalled something. Didn't I hear somewhere about seeing some sort of light when you die? Weren't you supposed to move towards the light? Or was it away from the light? Honestly I couldn't remember.

It appeared as if I didn't have much of a choice, since the light was becoming brighter and it was moving towards me. But I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to move towards it or not. Was the light a bad thing or a good thing? You know, they should really put up some sort of sign or give out a pamphlet or something so that you know what to do. I can see how this would be confusing for people. No wonder people fear death so much.

It didn't really matter, since it was too late to decide anyways. The light was already so big and so much closer now that it was overwhelmingly drowning out the ocean of darkness I was previously lost in. It was so immense and bright it sort of burned my eyes, you know, given I even had eyes in this form anyways.

The strange luminous light continued to suck me in, and I felt absolutely powerless before it. There were still so many unanswered questions. Like what had happened after I died? What had happened to Perry? And even if he had survived this catastrophic situation…would he be alright now that I'm deceased? Would he be overwhelmingly depressed without me? Or had he even survived at all? And what had become of the sinister murderer Major Monogram? Had he gotten what was coming to him yet? But right now the most important question that was standing out over all my other mangled thoughts was what would become of me? Where was this light taking me? Where was I going? But this insistent question was unfortunately unanswered as the light completely flooded my thoughts and vision and seemed to engulf my spirit inside of it…


	20. Chapter 20

**Phineas's POV**

BANG!

That was pretty much all I heard as the shot rang out across the huge vacant room where I now stood. I was extremely confused and worried, but I flinched away from the scene, unable to pull myself around to see for my self what had just happened. Who had gotten shot? Was Perry okay? Was the other man, whom I assumed from what Carl had told us must be Perry's nemesis okay?

You know what, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's backtrack a little to where I left off last so you can fully understand my current situation here. So where were we last? Oh yeah, Carl's story.

Anyways, when Carl was finished telling us his crazy unbelievable story about Perry, our mindless (or at least seemingly mindless) pet platypus and how he really was an undercover secret agent, I was still dumbfounded. And I was especially puzzled by the tremendously long journey Perry had taken just to save his nemesis. This still wasn't making any sense to me. But we were scared lost and confused, so it was really the only thing there was to believe. So I didn't have any doubts really. The only thing I was slightly doubtful about is if Perry can save us all. If his former boss is as evil and twisted as Carl said he was, then there's no telling what he has in store for us! He could shoot us all without batting an eyelash!

As we sat in the dark, compressed, dim-lighted room huddled in the corner together, I had plenty of time to ponder stuff like this. We were sitting there for what I assumed was a couple hours, but the immense boredom and fear eating away at me made it feel like ages. How long were we doomed to dwell in this small damp prison cell? Hours? Days? Weeks? Forever?

Unfortunately the only small light we had left was gradually dying down, dimming into part of the soul sucking darkness that surrounded us. Candace's cell phone battery must have been wearing down, because the light was getting weaker as the countless seconds ticked by. And finally it died out, our only light quickly depleting and leaving us shrouded in dense blackness for the rest of the relentless wait.

"Ah, dang it!" I heard Carl mutter as soon as the small blue light went out.

The dark made the room seem much smaller, and even a little bit colder and more sinister than before. I huddled up closer to the warmth of my sister, almost whimpering in fear at the sudden pitch blackness that now eliminated our already limited vision.

"G-Guys…I'm scared!" Candace stuttered.

"Me too…" I admitted. "Maybe if we talked about something it would keep our minds off of being so terrified."

"I like Phineas's idea." Carl said. "So what should we talk about?"

"I don't know, but I miss our parents." Candace half sobbed.

"Me too!" I mourned. "And I miss Isabella, and Buford, and Baljeet, and all of our other friends! I'll bet they're worried sick about us!"

"And I miss Stacy and Jenny and especially Jeremy!" Candace cried, and as I pressed up against her I felt a couple of tears roll down her face and land on my forehead, running down my cheeks and off my pointy nose to mix with my tears.

"I miss Perry." Ferb suddenly added, his voice more quiet and shaky then ever. It sounded as if he was crying too by the way his voice was strained as it echoed softly off the walls. Ferb's words rung through my head and continued to echo through my mind as it did through the cell. Perry. Yeah, I definitely missed him the most. He was the one that I had been mourning over for almost a week now, the one I thought was a goner. I figured that he would be completely lost out in the unforgiving city streets of Danville, possibly road kill by now, flattened on the side of the road and forgotten. It was surely much more comforting to know the truth about Perry, and at least know that he was a trained highly skilled secret agent that could take care of himself. But as many times that I told myself that he was okay and everything would be fine, my brain just wouldn't register the fact that he was alive and well until I saw him for myself. That's why I missed my beloved pet so much, I just needed the slightest bit of proof that he was alright. I just needed to see him one last time before we were all destined to perish.

The door opened abruptly right in the middle of my thinking, flooding the room with a blinding light once again and startling us all out of our minds. I figured it would be Major Monogram, coming in here to finish us all off for good. I squinted my eyes shut tightly and prepared for the worst, but was bewildered when I looked up for just long enough to see the silhouettes standing before us.

It wasn't the evil Major Monogram coming to obliterate us into non existence. And frankly, I couldn't make out what it was at first. Two really small figures with unusual shapes that didn't look the slightest bit human were lingering in the door way of this enclosed room, casting enormous shadows twice as big as the actual figures on the walls of our cell. Who were they? Or rather what were they? They were too small to be even the shortest of midgets. Plus one of them even seemed to have a tail! Once they stepped into the light I was truly befuddled.

It looked as if it was a pig and a raccoon! But…they were standing on their own hind legs! I didn't know that was possible! Plus they were wearing some sort of hats. This was extremely weird. But then I vaguely recalled something that Carl said earlier. He said that every single agent in the agency that he and Perry worked for were animals. I guess that explained it. These animals were secret agents! This made me wonder what Perry must look like as a secret agent. He must look pretty awesome in a hat!

But I put my thoughts of Perry aside and rearranged my train of thought to look at the matter at hand right now. These agents…were they good or bad? Were they with Monogram and sent here to destroy us, or against him and here to save us? I tried to recollect my jumbled thoughts, and remembered that Carl had only said that Perry, Pinky the Chihuahua, and Perry's nemesis were part of Perry's party. He said nothing about a pig and a raccoon.

Just like I had imagined, the two agents were apparently on the evil Major's side, because they stepped into the room with demonic smiles spread across their faces and they dragged us out by the ropes bound around our bodies and practically forced us out of the small room. I was really panicked, and I tried struggling to break free, but for animals without opposable thumbs their grips were surprisingly strong. There was definitely no use even trying to free myself of their tight grasps, and I could tell that my siblings and Carl had given up as well. We were all extremely panicked and petrified out of our minds but we obediently followed the animal agents as they hauled us all down a small hallway and into another room.

I couldn't help feeling pretty proud of Candace. She didn't even scream once over the commotion! Though she was probably too scared to even open her mouth in the first place. Neither could I. All I could really get myself to do was whimper in mortal terror as we were yanked away to an unforeseen place.

When the door opened into a whole different scene, the blinding lights of the new huge room nearly blinding me on the spot, I was once again flabbergasted by what I saw! The whole area was crawling with other animal agents! Any animal I could possibly think of was in that room with a hat on its head and a diabolical gleam in its eyes! It seemed as if the room was shrouded in utter chaos, animals running around fighting willy-nilly. But the noise and commotion wasn't at all the first thing that caught my attention in our new surroundings as we entered the large circular room.

I could barely believe my eyes! I figured I was still a little bit blinded from being hauled out of a dark dank room and into another place that was engulfed in bright lighting. But even when I blinked a few times to clear up my vision I could still see him there clear as day. It was Perry! It was our platypus that had been lost for so long! I felt new tears welling up in my huge innocent dark blue eyes as I looked into his, but this time they weren't of sadness, misery and terror, but of overwhelming joy and relief to finally see our pet again! I was so excited and happy, at first I didn't notice his…injuries. Perry had a huge gash down his face! And, and a cast on his arm! And though he had a look of sheer hope and determination displayed across his face, he looked weak and restless as he struggled to push through the crowd of agents to get to the other side of the room.

But despite his current objective, whatever it may be, he hastily stopped in his tracks as soon as we entered. Perry turned to face us instantly, and for a second I thought he was going to look as relieved to see us as I was to see him. But he didn't. Instead a look of pure shock and worry and even horror took over his sleep deprived expression, his deep brown eyes opening wide as he stared us down, completely bewildered and confused. Why was he so shocked and even slightly disappointed to see us here? Did he maybe not want to see us anymore? Did he completely forget about us, and think that we had forgotten him? But no, that wasn't it. Perry would never think of us like that. He loved us, he must be happy to see us again. But why didn't he show it?

"Oh, now what are you going to do?" I heard some huge deep menacing voice bellow from the center of the massive room. It took me a few moments to spot and recognize him, but I realized that the terrifyingly evil voice was coming from none other than Major Monogram himself. And he was obviously addressing Perry. "What will you ever do now? Save your family and leave you nemesis to die, or save your nemesis and leave your family to die? Ha! I'd love to see you get out of this one!"

I finally understood it all now! Perry wasn't unhappy or disappointed to see us, he was just worried that we were here because he didn't want us to get hurt! And Monogram trapped us in the first place so that he could try and get Perry confused as he tried to force him to choose between us and his nemesis! It looked like I wasn't the only one who was a little slow at figuring this out, but it seemed as if Perry was a little flabbergasted at this sudden truth as well.

"You sick twisted bastard!" I heard someone scream over the enormous crowd of panicked agents. I didn't recognize the voice at all, but I realized who it was when the one who had spoken squeezed his way through the dense crowd and into the spotlight. It was Isabella's dog! I was a little shocked at his choice of language, but he looked pretty pissed off. Then I thought for a moment. Speaking of language, how was Pinky even talking in the first place? Did being an agent give you the power to talk like a human or something? Now I was even more confused.  
"Stop doing this to poor Perry and let his family go!" Pinky screamed again in aggravation.

"Oh shut up you stupid worthless big-eared little Mexican rat!" The notorious Monogram snapped nastily at the poor little dog. I think I even heard Pinky whimper a little. That was really rude! Even for someone with a sick, evil nature like him, it was still uncalled for!

But Pinky didn't look like he was taking any smack talk like that. He sprinted on all fours to where the major stood. I heard him scream something angrily at the last second. It was something like 'No one talks to me that way!'. But after that the Chihuahua said something else that I heard much more clearly, though I seldom wish I hadn't.

"This is for Perry, Doofy, Carl, Peter, Candace, Ferb, and my owner's future husband!" he yelled as he ran up and bit Major Monogram. But uhh…I don't exactly want to explain where the evil major was bit.

Now the entire room was drowned out with screams of agony from Major Monogram as he dropped to his knees in pain. But that incident wasn't the thing I was really focused on right then. What had Pinky said before he lunged at him? Isabella's future husband? Did, did he maybe mean me? But that was impossible, what could Pinky possibly have meant by that…

I was yet again unable to finish my obscure thoughts for too long as I my attention was distracted by a new commotion breaking out through the swarm of animals. It seemed that everyone was too confused to do anything now that their leader was distracted. The agents sort of looked around, suggesting what they should do next as Perry came up behind them one by one and knocked them out while they were preoccupied. I imagined Perry as a secret agent pretty precisely earlier, but I never even anticipated that he would be such a highly skilled and experienced fighter! It was mind-bogglingly implausible the way the small seemingly helpless platypus used intense judo maneuvers to battle and overall defeat each agent with one final blow. It was absolutely incredible! I never in my life pictured Perry with that kind of extreme strength and persistence as he blacked out the surrounding agents one by one!

A few minutes afterward, Pinky weaved his way expertly through the confused mob of agents and towards us, where he stood back up on his hind legs and instantly freed us all of our traps. I was devastatingly grateful to finally have though rough, tight ropes off my arms, and for the first time in a long while I felt relatively free. Candace, Ferb, and Carl looked pretty relived as well when their traps were released.

But I didn't even have time to say so much as thank you to Pinky when he dived back into the crowd to vigorously help Perry fight off some more agents. He was just as amazing of a fighter as Perry was, surprisingly. I never even pictured Perry to be that dangerously skilled, never mind little Pinky. I observed their peculiar styles of fighting, for they were very different in technique and force. Perry used his power and speed to its fullest potential, releasing a contained wrath of unstoppable dynamic fury on each agent as he came in for the final strike. But Pinky was a little more graceful at fighting, using quick dodges and maneuvers to confuse his opponents before striking them with all his power. It was pretty exciting to watch the two outstanding agents fight side by side, and despite the peril and danger we were all in right now in our current circumstances I couldn't help feeling like this was an action movie, each scene already set out and perfectly planned as it unfolded before my very eyes.

But almost instantly after Major Monogram recovered enough to stand up time seemed to move in slow motion as a number of insane events occurred all in the blink of an eye. It was almost like putting a movie on slow-motion as Major Monogram bellowed for silence, immediately seizing all of the racket in the room and halting every last agent in their tracks. And though it was only in the short period of a few seconds it seemed like minutes had passed afterward as the cage fell out of nowhere and landed around Perry. And then everything was basically a blur when Pinky and another panda agent that I had never seen before were caught by some of the maddened agents that were left, and they were hastily dragged off to the sidelines of the room.

As the room cleared out in a matter of moments, the other thing I couldn't help noticing was the tall man on the other side of the room. A few agents crowded around him, holding guns in his direction to threaten him. He was pretty tall and slim though he was slouching a bit, with messy chestnut-brown hair that was sticking out all over the place. He was also wearing some sort of lab coat, which almost looked like a pharmacist, or maybe a scientist outfit. He looked scared stiff at the agents, fear lingering in his dark blue eyes that reminded me of my own, since they looked just as innocent and helpless and almost childlike. But even though I didn't at all recognize this man I didn't need anyone to tell me who he was. He must have been Perry's nemesis! I could just tell, especially from the way Perry was glancing at him nervously as he trembled in fear, just as petrified as we were.

Speaking of Candace, Ferb, Carl and I, I felt the three of them clustered together beside me again, their warm breath on my back as they continued breathing nervous, heavy breaths. I also felt them shivering by my side, and it took me a little while to realize why they were suddenly so scared again. There were a few more agents in front of us, the pig, the raccoon, and a couple others that looked like a duck and a bigger one that looked like a kangaroo. But that's not what was so disturbingly frightening about it. They had guns in their hands! Or paws, or whatever. I couldn't tell if they were laser guns or regular pistols, but whatever sort of weapon they held they definitely looked deadly. I whimpered a little again, backing up as far as I could into the wall with my siblings and Carl as we strived to get as far away from the armed animals as possible.

"So Perry the Platypus, this is where the charade ends." Monogram said, strolling over to Perry's cage and grinning proudly ear to ear. This sickened and disturbed me even further. How could this guy be enjoying all this torture he's putting us through?

"This isn't over Francis!" Perry snapped, grasping the iron bars of the cage with great strength. At first I was pretty shocked, not even realizing what Perry had really said as I was only caught up in the fact that he had said something! I remembered that Pinky had also spoken in plain human English earlier, but I had no idea that Perry could speak too! This was absolutely amazing to me! I was also a little confused at first, but I just figured that 'Francis' was Monogram's first name or something. I wondered why Perry didn't call him Major Monogram like everyone else.

"Ah, you still think you have the balls to stop me?" Monogram asked.

"I wouldn't be saying that if I were you, considering you no longer have any balls thanks to Pinky." Perry said. If I wasn't so scared out of my mind I might have giggled a little at that remark.

"That's the last of you cute little remarks, Perry the Platypus." Monogram said sternly, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small ray gun and aiming it for Perry's head. I gasped! Perry! No! He couldn't get shot; he was my only pet and our only hope of even living through all this!

"Now, I'm giving you one final chance." The sick twisted malicious murderer continued. . "You can get out of this alive and go home with your family safe and sound like this never happened. Pinky and Peter will have all charges against them dropped as well, and they'll be sent back to their families too. You can get every last one of your loved ones out of this whole mess safely and unscathed, If you just simply hand over your nemesis for execution."

"Never!" Perry snapped in response.

"Someone's determined." Monogram said. "Do you really expect to get out of this alive?"

"No." Perry said. "I doubt I'll live through this, but I do expect to get my friends out alive. Even if I have to die for them!"

I was pretty surprised at that. Perry would seriously give his own life for all of us? That was the most selfless, generous good-hearted thing I have ever had anyone do for me! Perry was so kind and loving, he was willing to give his very life for his family and friends, and even his nemesis. That was absolutely amazing to me.

"So be it." Monogram said, shrugging off his response as if he didn't give a care. Another thing that amazed me was how completely careless and inconsiderate Monogram was. I just wanted Perry to break free of that cage and beat that bad man to the ground for what he's doing!

But Monogram was relentless. He held a gun up to Perry's little head without any hesitation, his finger lingering just millimeters above the trigger that would decide Perry's fate for good. I noticed Perry was just about giving up, clamping his eyes shut and preparing to die, and I was going to do the same. I don't think I'd be able to withstand the sight of my pet being murdered, so I quickly turned away before he pulled the trigger.

I waited.

And waited.

But still no explosion of gunfire.

I was confused, so I opened up my eyes to reveal what had happened. It, it was Perry's nemesis! What was his name again? I couldn't remember at the moment, but he had jumped right in front of the gun that Monogram grasped! I stared at him for a while, but there was no blood. And I never heard any gun shots. So he couldn't have gotten shot. But why would he do that? Why would this man who was supposed to be evil dive in front of a gun just to save his mortal enemy? I know Carl said they were secret best friends, or 'freneimes', as he had called them, but it still wasn't making much sense to me. What would drive them to love and protect each other like that?

"Grrr! Doofenshmirtz!" Monogram said angrily through clenched teeth. That was his name! Doofenshmirtz! Thank goodness Monogram ended up clearing that up for me. "How dare you interrupt my execution? I'll shoot you sooner if I have to!"

"Oh please please please Major Monogram!" Doofenshmirtz pleaded weakly, dropping to his knees. "Please don't kill Perry! None of this was his fault! You should kill me instead! I know I'm not that evil and I still don't understand why I was scheduled to be eradicated in the first place, but you're welcome to destroy me if it means sparing Perry's life! He means everything in the world to me and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything bad happened to him just because I was too chicken to stand up for myself. You see, Perry's really been saving me and protecting me from, well, everything over this past week. I felt like I wasn't being such a good friend, since I wasn't really able to fight for myself. I just felt so helpless, like I always needed him to protect me. But now I'm the one who has to protect him. So please Major Monogram, if you're going to shoot anyone, let it be me. Let me be the one to be killed today, and let Perry and his family and his friends go back home and just forget that any of this ever happened."

I guess that explained my previous question as to why he loved Perry. I'm glad that was cleared up too. But Doofenshmirtz's words made me feel so bad for him and Perry. They had traveled all the way across the country and back just to protect the strong bonds that somehow bounded them together as friends. As if there was some unbreakable force of love and compassion between them that had grown and strengthened over the years to make them love each other deeply as friends and even as family like they do. But Monogram was just here to break it. He was trying to destroy their touchingly strange yet beautiful friendship just for his own nefarious purposes. It was just so heartbreaking that he would try and do that! How could he not see the love that held them together like the rest of us did? How could anyone be so blind and oblivious to this, especially someone who's known both of them for years! I had only known Doofenshmirtz and the secret agent side of Perry for a couple of hours now and I had already figured this out faster than he had!

I forgot about my undying anger and irritation towards Major Monogram for a few moments and turned back to Perry's cage to see his reaction to his nemesis's sudden confession. This whole scene was gradually changing from a horror movie to an action movie to a soap opera, and I was pretty excited to see what would happen next.

Perry's eyes were twinkly ever so brightly as he stared up at Doofenshmirtz in disbelief from his cage. "I can't believe you would risk your life for me." he said between sobs, walking up to the bars of the cage to come closer to his nemesis.

"Of course I would Perry the Platypus." Doofenshmirtz said sincerely, his big dark blue eyes spilling tears of sadness as well. "Because I love you."

"Awwww!" was pretty much the only sound left echoing throughout the room after that. Everyone was gawking at this glorious scene, including me. Even the other agents on Monogram's side were. But of course the evil twisted freak that had started this whole dilemma wasn't. He looked pretty stunned and even traumatized that everyone felt this way about this wonderful scene, and he looked awfully upset that no one in the entire room was following his lead anymore. The agents in front of us had dropped their guns, and Pinky and the unknown panda agent weren't being held back anymore. But still no one tried to escape. We all just stood there and took in this exceedingly perfect moment while it lasted.

Unfortunately, it didn't last very long, as Monogram's voice boomed over the rest of the room, silencing our adoring remarks and breaking the strained hug between the two best friends through the bars of Perry's cage.

"Aww, that's very, very touching Dr. Doofenshmirtz." Monogram said nonchalantly. "But I'm afraid that doesn't make me feel any more sorry that I have to execute you Perry the Platypus. Now step out of my way Doofenshmirtz before I shoot you both!" he said unsympathetically, whipping his gun back out from behind his back. How could he be completely untouched by their friendship? This guy made me more furious and less scared of him with every distasteful word that escaped his mouth. I just wished someone would teach him a lesson!

"N-No!" Doofenshmirtz said firmly, picking himself back up onto his shaky feet and standing defensively in front of Perry's cage, more courage and determination in the evil scientist's voice than ever before. "I don't care what you say anymore! I will not sit here and just allow my nemesis to die!"

"I said get out of my way!" Monogram shouted, and to my tremendous astonishment he struck Doofenshmirtz straight on the face! The sudden punch made the doctor fall back to the floor in a hard, painful sounding thump, that one blow stunning him and preventing him to move for a few moments.

But those moments were vital, because with no time to lose Monogram chose this short period of time while Doofenshmirtz was out to pull out his gun and pull the trigger, a loud BANG echoing throughout the whole room, engraving the entire area in absolute silence.

I didn't move, didn't blink, didn't even breathe for what seemed like an eternity. And neither did anyone else. I had turned away at the last millisecond before that tragic moment, reluctant to see who had gotten shot. But now I had to see. I had to know if Doofenshmirtz had gotten shot, or Perry, or anyone at all for that matter. I tried to back up my thoughts to figure it out without looking. Alright, let's see, Monogram had the gun pointed at Perry last when he had pulled the trigger. And Doofenshmirtz was a few feet away, sprawled out on the floor while this unfortunate moment occurred. So it had to have been Perry! He must have been the one who was killed! But there was no telling if that were true or not until I opened my eyes and saw for my self.

I somehow forced away my immense terror and shook off the petrified feeling that made my blood run cold. It felt as if it was the hundredth time this very day that I had felt so afraid and helpless like I do now. But even under a situation as dire as ours, I can't be afraid all the time like this. As I had once told Candace, I can't let fear rule my life, especially when something like this happens and I must fight my fear. I forced up all my courage and willingness, and turned my head to take in the murderous scene before me.

First I checked Perry's cage, and noticed Perry standing stiff as a statue, barely breathing as he stared blankly in front of him, an extraordinarily stunned expression spread across his face. He was backed up against the bars of his cage, more alarm and astonishment and even a hint of mournfulness and disbelief in his eyes than ever before.

I followed Perry's gaze to the area in front of his cage, and it was instantaneously lucid to me who the deadly bullet had hit. Doofenshmirtz was collapsed out on the floor in front of Perry's cage, lying in a growing pool of his own dark crimson blood that flowed exceedingly out of the bullet whole that pierced his chest. He was just barely breathing, his face grimaced in unbearable pain from his growing wound as he laid there. And after a few moments of watching, I wasn't even sure he was breathing at all anymore.

It took quite a while for Perry to finally recollect his distorted thoughts, but when he finally came out of his own mind enough to realize what had just happened he whipped into action. Perry grabbed hold of the bars on the metal cage that contained him (which had to be over 10 times his own weight) and lifted with all his strength, pulling the trap off of himself and pushing it aside, freeing himself and almost making it look easy for him. I was pretty impressed and amazed by his sudden wave of strength, though not too surprised. When someone you love is in danger, it's normal for the average person (or platypus) to suddenly gain absurd amounts of power and muscle, allowing them to take on nearly impossible feats of strength and agility. I learned that from this special I watched on TV.

"Doof!" Perry cried worriedly as he freed himself of the huge cage, running over to his nemesis's side. But Doof's chest wasn't going up and down to signal his breathing even the slightest bit, which got me worried.

Everyone in the entire room was watching them now without speaking a word, everyone nervously taking in this spectacle, for watching was really all we could do.

Perry checked the evil scientist's pulse, and then his heartbeat, and repeated this for quite some time. It seemed that he wouldn't let himself believe the truth, even though he knew it deep in his heart. He didn't allow himself to think rationally, for Perry the Platypus was too awestricken to comprehend his nemesis's already decided fate.

"No, no! You can't be dead Doofy! I-I need you! I can't live without you! You can't just be…just be…gone…" Perry chanted repeatedly to the deceased body, and almost to himself. He was beginning to sob, his now dampened fur glistening just the slightest bit in the intensely bright spotlight that centered the room.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Perry finally gave up on checking Doofenshmirtz's vital signs, and stopped. Perry stopped and dropped to the floor, sitting in a puddle of his nemesis's blood mixed with his own tears as he sobbed uncontrollably. His eyes gushed tears of sorrow while his heart gushed a river of sadness as he mourned. This was not only the end of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, but also the end of Perry's happiness for eternity.

I glanced around the room, curious to see what the other agents were feeling as they witnessed this depressing scene, and I was also too miserable to continue to watch my pet sob. The other agents all around the room, whether they be good or bad, on our side or Monogram's, wore shameful expressions on their alarmed and sorrowful faces. One by one each agent took their hats off in respect to honor the fallen friend of Perry's.

But to my extreme horror, Monogram wasn't done! He didn't even shed a tear at this woeful, depressing scene before us. He even looked slightly…proud at what he's accomplished here! I watched in complete stun as despite Perry's mourning over the loss of his friend, Monogram grabbed his gun off the floor and aimed it back for the crying platypus.

"Well that's done." he said, as if he had just completed his goal for the day, which he basically did. "But I'm sure it will be much more amusing to blow your head of Perry the Platypus!"

Monogram wielded his gun towards Perry, a diabolical grin covering his face. But Perry didn't flinch or try and run away. In fact he didn't really move or react at all. It was almost as if Perry wanted to die, wanted Monogram to pull the trigger and put an end to his suffering. I guess if someone I loved dearly died just a few feet in front of me I would want the same thing.

I flinched, and squinted my eyes shut again, preparing for another BANG and a splatter of blood, but it never came. Just a small clicking sound over and over. I looked back at the scene in front of me, and saw that Monogram was pulling the trigger over and over, but had the same luck with each attempt. A small clicking sound that signaled he was fresh out of ammo.

"Oh damn it! Come on! You can't be out now!" he cursed at his faulty weapon, finally giving up and tossing it to the ground across he room in frustration.

"Oh whatever! It doesn't matter now, I still have my agents!" Monogram said. "Okay agents! Charge! Attack! Destroy Agent P!" he ordered firmly.

No one moved, no one said a word. None of the agents did as they were told. They just continued to mourn over the loss Doofenshmirtz as Perry did. Everyone just seemed to ignore the demands of the mad man who was now the only was left in the room who wasn't crying his eyes out.

"Well! What are you all waiting for?" he shouted a bit louder this time, trying to get the agents to listen to his demands. "I said finish him off!"

That remark was the final straw. Major Monogram had finally gone completely off the deep end. There was no way anyone on this earth could have been that unsympathetic about the death of a man and still have a heart. There was no possible way he could still have a shred of love and compassion left in his body after how insensitively cruel and cold hearted he had been acting. And it looked as if the rest of the secret agents had had enough of his insanity as well because their expressions of sorrow quickly altered into looks of pure hatred and disgust as they glared up at their former boss, who still continued to bark orders to them indifferently.

Then they did something I never expected them to do. The agents completely turned on Major Monogram! They turned towards him, surrounding him from all sides until he was caught in a circle of his own agents, or former agents, I should say. It definitely looked like they didn't agree with Monogram anymore.

"Uh, agents?" Monogram said uncertainly as he gazed around him at the surrounding agents in alarm. "W-What are you doing? I said attack!"

After that order, the hat wearing animals finally obeyed their boss. Sort of. They attacked all right, but not Perry. Each and every last one of the agents lunged straight for Monogram! It was a pretty horrific scene watching all these anger-stricken animals try to rip this guy's throat out, but I found it kind of relieving that he was finally getting what was coming to him. Still it was a little bit disturbing to watch dozens of furious animals scratch and bite the malicious man while he screamed in sheer agony. I wasn't surprised when the scrapes and scratches he suffered left yet another pool of crimson blood on the floor. Yes, Major Monogram was finally getting exactly what he deserved.

I couldn't watch this disgusting, bloody scene for another second, so I decided to turn and see what Perry was doing. He wasn't joining the other agents in tearing apart his ex-boss, but he was watching with curiosity. Big fat salty tears still streamed down his face and off his bill as he continued sobbing involuntarily, but it seemed like he was focused more on the battle raging on in the center of the room than crying now. But I knew no matter how much Monogram was hurt, no matter how much he was punished for what he did, the damage he caused, Perry would never be the same.

And nothing could ever bring back his nemesis.


	21. Chapter 21

**Perry's POV**

"Come on Perry, please eat something!"

I stared blankly down at the food bowl out in front of me with platypus food I had previously refused to eat literally spilling over the top. Phineas pushed it forward, urging me desperately to eat something, but I ignored the wrath of my empty, churning stomach and pushed it away. I looked up at Phineas, his huge, innocent dark blue eyes sparkling with worry and concern as he just about gave up trying to get me to eat something. I quickly looked away after a few moments. I couldn't look into his dark-blue eyes, they reminded me to much of…you know who.

In fact it wasn't just his eyes, but absolutely everything around me reminded me of him. Lab coats, scientists, really anything that was relatively evil almost made me snap. I couldn't even put on my fedora anymore without getting a flood of memories—both good and bad. It was almost as if the entire world was doing this on purpose, just trying to push me over the edge.

And for the most part, it was working. Every moment I would feel the everlasting stack of sorrows and sadness pile up heavier on top of me, threatening to weigh me down and shatter my heart completely underneath. I was my own ticking time bomb of depression, readying to finally crack under pressure whilst I gradually lost my sanity. The whole incident had left an empty chunk taken out of my life and a huge hole in my heart, like I was the one who had gotten shot. And I should have been. I literally dodged a bullet back there, but at what cost? I might as well have gotten hit, since I'd rather be dead than continue to suffer through this living hell.

I heard Phineas sigh in disappointment at my rejection to eat and slowly get up to walk away. I felt sorry for him, feeling sorry for me. He shouldn't feel so bad for me, I don't want him to get more wrapped up in my own problems than he already was.

"What's wrong honey?"

I recognized Linda's voice coming from the other room. I cleared my jumbled thoughts a little so that I could eavesdrop on their distant conversation which I could just vaguely overhear through the walls.

"Mom, Perry won't eat. He won't drink, he won't sleep. He won't do anything!" I heard Phineas's anxious, worried voice say.

I sighed half heartedly. What was the point of eating? What was the point of sleeping? I might as well just lay here for the rest of my days and hopefully die of ultimate dehydration and starvation.

"Oh Phineas, he's really depressed right now." Linda told him in a gentle, reassuring voice. I scoffed at her interpretation of my condition. Depressed. If that wasn't an understatement than I don't know what is.

"But mom! He can't just keep this up…he'll kill himself of starvation!" Phineas said, more fear and angst in his tone now as he nearly shouted back at his mother.

"Phineas, dear, just give him time. You have to look at this from Perry's point of view. How would you feel if you lost someone important in your life? What if you lost Ferb or Candace? How depressed would you be?" Linda said. She wasn't helping at all bringing up the topic. I could kill Carl for telling her and Lawrence about this whole mess. They really didn't need to know more than they needed to, for their sake and mine.

"Alright." Phineas said mournfully, giving up on trying to tell his mom other wise. "But I just don't want him to go too."

After their conversation was over, I tried as hard as I could to mentally refurbish myself. I needed to clear my thoughts out completely now and then when on such subjects in order to keep myself sane. If I got too deep into that topic for too long I would surely snap. And after those first few days, I don't think anyone in this house wants to hear me cry again.

Speaking of which, I should probably explain what had happened after the extremely tragic events that occurred just a week and a half ago. It's weird, it feels like an eternity had gone by since then.

Okay, I'll try to do this without getting too specific for my sake. Right after…that incident at the O.W.C.A. on that catastrophically heart-shattering afternoon not to long ago, things got better and worse. Major Monogram had finally gotten what that bastard deserved, a beat down delivered by his own league of agents. I'm sorry to disappoint you but he's not dead. I apologize for ruining your fun there, but if I wasn't so depressed I would have done something about it. I guess he learned his lesson, or at least so much pain that he's suffering physically just as much as I am mentally right now. Right after the animal agents had scratched, bit, and overall beaten the crap out of him the police peeled his injured body of the floor and carted him away to the hospital to tend to his aching wounds. He's recovering ask I speak, but he better not get too comfortable because as soon as he's out of the infirmary he's facing a long line of murder charges that will surely keep the man in prison for life. As good as that sounds…it didn't really help my circumstances much. No matter how much that horribly evil malicious freak of a man suffered, it would never take my agonizing pain away, or fill the vacant hole left eating away at what was left of my fragile heart.

Ugh! Okay, clear my mind, clear my mind…

Sorry, I was getting a little too off topic and onto my other issue again. I sometimes have to remind myself to stay away from the topics that might send me into another crying fit. Speaking of which—and I know this is going to hurt a little bit to think about but I'll give it a shot—I'll describe exactly what had happened to me that horrible day.

Once Francis was all taken care of, I was the next mess that investigators had to practically pry off the floor and haul away. It took Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Pinky, and like four or five police officers to even get me to leave the room, as I still refused to leave his side even after I knew he was gone forever. But even after they got me to leave it still took quite a few days afterward to finally seize my intensive sobbing. And even though I finally stopped bawling my eyes out over the issue about three or four days ago I still feel like my heart is crying it self out inside of me as I endure this excessive misery.

As for the others, I heard that Carl had taken the responsibility of cleaning up the aftermath of the situation. He had talked to Linda and Lawrence, who had assumed that their children had been kidnapped and you could only imagine the tremendous relief they felt once they knew that Phineas, Ferb, and Candace were alright. The thing they didn't take lightly though was exactly what had happened to them. At first they were too apprehensive to believe it, but after a long, long explanation they finally accepted the fact that I was a secret agent. But I still regretted that Carl told them exactly why I was so depressed. I feel uncomfortable and even a little humiliated that basically the whole world knew about the reason for my sorrow now. Though the embarrassment of it all was vaguely even present, since my severe mournfulness and misery pretty much washed away all my other emotions.

Anyways, Pinky and Peter were sent home as well. Carl used the inato—oops. Caught myself there. I swear to God if I say or even think that word once I'll start bawling again. So Carl used the _device_ we had used to speak human to restore Pinky and Peter's voices, since they didn't want to speak English for the rest of their lives. I however kept my new voice. I didn't want to hear my chattering noise ever again. It was yet another thing that brought back too many memories. I had to be really careful about these things.

Speaking of careful, I noticed my family was going to the extremes to keep me remotely okay. I haven't the slightest idea why they would even attempt to try and get me happy again, since I would never EVER be the least bit happy about anything ever again for the rest of my existence, but I still appreciated them being cautious when mentioning stuff like that around me. For instance, things that were strictly off limits to discuss around me were his name or him in general, or anything in detail about that day or anything that had happened during that specific mission. Also past memories that involved him at all were not to be brought up either. Don't think I'm being pushy about this or anything, Carl's the one who told them. I for one hadn't even spoken a word since that day. And if I did I would have told everyone flat out that they didn't have to be this careful around me. Sure I was on the edge of my own sanity and losing my mind even faster than Major Monogram himself, but I felt like some sort of mental case when everyone was avoiding talking to me at all and just kind of leaving me in my fluffy little platypus bed to cry my eyes out every now and then. Don't get me wrong, I needed to be alone, but I hated being a burden on everyone while I was this out of it.

I shook my head back and forth, trying to erase my thoughts as they trailed off topic again. That was enough thinking for the day. I laid my head down on my bed, staring up at the milky white ceiling and letting the blank, emotionless feeling that I've been enduring for the past few days take control again. It was better to feel absolutely empty of all feeling and emotion than be so sad. Besides, I felt how my heart felt, and right now my heart was empty, so therefore I was empty. I closed my eyes, hoping to start drifting off but having no luck as the sensation of sleepiness failed to drift me off into unconsciousness. I had been undergoing insomnia for this entire week and a half now, not getting a second's sleep since that dreadful day that ruined my life. So just like my eating habits my sleep had been thrown drastically off course as well. My eyelids felt about five tons heavier than usual as they struggled to clamp down and shut out the world. But my brain just wouldn't connect that action with sleep, no matter how drowsy I felt.

The lack of sleep and constant crying had also burdened me with a splitting, throbbing head ach that rang through my head as loud as thousands of church bells echoing through my ears at once. I squinted my eyes shut and shuddered as my skull felt like it was cracking open under pressure.

The only thing that was aggravating me more than my head—well, physically aggravating me at least, mentally was another story—was my stomach. Due to my decline to eat anything my stomach had basically shriveled up as it deteriorated the last bits of nourishment that were stored in there. It was churning and swirling around so much and scraping against the lining of my stomach that it felt like my digestive juices were burning me like acid and eating me from the inside out. But still I just wasn't in the mood to eat, no matter how painstakingly irritating and agonizing this immense hunger was while it tore away at me.

Overall I must have been a mess. I was without proper food or sleep for over a week now and deep, black rings had formed under my eyes to signal my sleep deprived stance. All together I was less than half awake, and still alleged to burst into tears at any moment. I just constantly wished I would die. I wanted someone to just put a gun to my head and pull the trigger. I couldn't bear to live anymore! Anything was better than living through this constant hell! When was this ever going to end?

"H-hello? Anyone home?"

I heard a small, weak, shaky voice call out following a sudden knocking at the front door. I listened closely and noticed someone running to answer it, by the sound of the small, light foot steps it was probably Phineas. The voice that came from the unknown visitor was unmistakably Carl's. I silently disembarked from my other mangled thoughts and pondered why he would be here. It was either really bad news or really good news, and I doubted even the slim plausibility of any relatively good news at the point, so I just suspected him to have something else for me to cry about.

"Oh, come right in Carl! What brings you here?" I heard Phineas greet him as the red headed teenager entered the house.

They both walked into the kitchen to continue their conversation, but being in the living room just one room away even with my throbbing headache and severe lack of sleep and overall concentration I was still able to eavesdrop pretty easily. Maybe it was just my years of experience or intense secret agent training, but being a spy it was pretty effortless to listen in on people's conversation from afar. Kind of like the way I could single out Pinky's footsteps from a crowd of other animals. Even in this state instincts like that just came naturally to me.

"I need to talk to Perry." Carl said, his voice just barely a whisper as he struggled to keep his voice low so that I couldn't hear. But his voice was still faintly clear to me.

"Is it about…?" Phineas asked, not needing to complete his sentence for Carl to understand what he had meant.

"Yes." the unpaid intern answered.

"But I really don't think you should mention that." Phineas said cautiously.

"I know," Carl replied. "But it's important."

"Carl." Phineas said sternly. "You saw how much pain he had been in those first few days. You really want to put him through all that again? I'm telling you, it's just not safe to bring up!"

"But Phineas, please! I need to talk to him, it's urgent!" Carl pleaded.

There was a brief pause between the two, and the soft sound of Phineas sighing in surrender.

"F-fine." he finally said. "But I need to set up some ground rules. No getting to specific of that day or anything really detailed about the entire incident. And please, I'm begging you! What ever you do, don't mention a thing about you-know-who, alright?"

"Alright, I promise." Carl assured.

"Okay. Good luck even getting him to say anything, though." Phineas said. "He hasn't spoken as much as a word since the incident."

I had to think about all that for a moment. What could Carl possibly want to talk to me about that had to do with…you know who? Was it that urgent that he actually had to break Phineas's regulations on what not to mention around me? Was his so called 'urgent' news good or bad? I stiffened myself up as I lied awake in my bed, preparing myself for the worst. I just hoped I wasn't going to cry again.

"Agent P?" I heard a feeble, high-pitched voice address me from across the room. Seconds later, light, soft foot steps were carried across the floor as Carl slowly entered. The footsteps stopped right by my bed, but I didn't look up. I just decided to ignore what ever he had to say and continue drowning in a deep pool of my own sorrows.

"Perry? Are you okay? I need to talk to you." he said.

I growled deep in my throat in return. Are you okay. That was the absolute dumbest question anyone could have possibly asked me right then. No, I was FAR from okay, obviously.

"Look, Perry. I need to tell you something, but I'm not sure if it will upset you or not." he said.

I didn't respond, I just tensed up a little, hoping the news wasn't too bad.

"Uh, well, there's something coming up in a couple days." Carl mentioned. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to participate or if you weren't up for it…"

I wondered what that could be. Major Monogram's execution? Of course I'd be up for that spectacle any day.

"It's your nemesis's funeral." he said flatly, causing my heart to drop.

I sat there, a little bewildered and dumbfounded by his words. His…funeral? He wanted me to go to it? I really wasn't sure. Truthfully, I didn't believe in funerals for the most part. It's like just when you think you're just about over the death of a loved one they throw this whole gathering in your face and bring back all these bad memories again. Of course I wouldn't be able to go, I was embarrassed enough shedding so many tears of anguish in front of my own family, why do it out in public? Just the mere thought of this subject was causing my adrenaline levels to spike and my heart race as I struggled to control my emotions!

I quickly shook my head no.

"Oh, alright." He responded. "I was just asking, I didn't want to bring up anything that will trigger you to cry again. You know, we've all been so worried about you. Perry, you can't wallow in depression forever. I think it's about time for you to move on."

This comment enraged me. It made me so furious that I actually whipped myself around to face Carl, making eye contact with him for the first time during this conversation.

"Move on?" I repeated. "Move on? You actually think that I can just forget about this whole thing, forget about my entire life in one day and start a new one?"

My throat was kind of scratchy from all the crying I had done, and my voice was really weak and quiet due to my lack of talking for over a week now, but I tried to lash out my words as fiercely as possible. I was so mad at what Carl had just said! And besides weeping uncontrollably for days on end this was the only other way I had to vent out my strained emotions.

"Well, other people lose loved ones all the time and everyone has to move on sometime. I just thought maybe being so worked up over it isn't so healthy for you, and you should try and forget about it and move on." Carl said, trying hard to rearrange his words to make them sound less straightforward and harsh so I wouldn't take them the wrong way, but I knew what he meant. He actually believed that I should just forget absolutely everything about him and try and forget about being sad, so hopefully I could move on. But I'm afraid it doesn't work that way. I couldn't just forget about him. I couldn't just forget our friendship with the snap of my fingers and suddenly be happy again. I could never in a million years recover from this incident to the point where I wouldn't even remember the person I had loved like family for so many years. And nothing, not even death could sever the strong bonds bounding our friendship together, so moving on wasn't an option for me.

"Carl, are you crazy?" I snapped. "Are you seriously trying to get me to forget him just like that? You know for a fact that I loved him too much to ever move on! He was a second family to me, there's no force on this earth that could bring me to stop being so depressed on the matter! Don't you understand that?"

"I know that Perry, but considering it's your nemesis we're talking about here shouldn't that make it just the slightest bit easier compared to your family? I mean since you spent a lot of your life hating him shouldn't it be easier for you to give him up than your real family?" Carl said.

I was speechless. I had never in the entirety of my existence, even from Major Monogram EVER heard a remark that stupid and heartless come out of somebody's mouth. I thought I might have been hearing things. Did he seriously just say that? Did Carl seriously think that because I used to hate him made any difference to how much I really loved him or how much I really missed him severely right now? I mean, I NEVER cry, and I've been sobbing non stop about him for days! Isn't that hinting enough to how much I care about my nemesis? How could he even think that he meant less to me than my family! And how dare he say 'real family', as if my nemesis wasn't even considered an actual part of my family to me! I was burning up with anger and frustration at his spiteful words right now! How dare he tell me to move on from the loss of my best friend!

"Will you STOP calling him my nemesis already!" I screamed. "He is NOT my nemesis and I do NOT hate him you liar! You're just as bad as Monogram! He was my best friend and I love him and I miss him so shut the hell up! What do you know about losing someone important to you? I will NEVER move on from this!"

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Phineas and Ferb had entered the room, and they were standing on the sidelines of our argument, curious to our sudden conflict. But they showed no signs of worrying for me, so I guessed they didn't care that I was angry. They probably wanted me to let it all out anyways.

"Wow, he sure got Perry upset." Phineas said casually.

"Well at least he got him to talk." Ferb added.

"You have to move on Perry!" Carl continued, trying to stay calm but his voice was already shouting at my level now. "You can't spend the whole rest of your life crying just because Doofenshmirtz is dead!"

That was it. That was the one sentence that triggered my snapping point, the last piece to add onto the growing pile of sorrows that was already weighing me down. My heart shattered into a million shards of broken dreams whilst the rest of my life came crashing down on top of me, signaling the peak of my misery. My tear sockets suddenly burst open and I found myself violently sobbing once again, my immense desolation and depression overwhelming all my other thoughts and emotions. I felt my self struggling to breathe between sobs, and tears continued to pour down myself and drip onto my bed, soaking my thick turquoise fur on the way down. This was it. Every ounce of sanity and rationality had utterly left my body as I sat there, completely tortured by my own growing sadness as I mourned.

Why did he have to do that? Why did Carl have to mention his name? Now I couldn't stop thinking about it. As much as I desperately tried I couldn't pry my mind away from this heartbreaking subject I had been dreading ever since he was shot. I had been hiding myself, shying away from the truth, trying to tell myself that everything was okay. No, he wasn't dead. He was still very much alive, up at the very top floor of D.E.I. eagerly waiting for me to foil his latest scheme like everyday. But there was no trying to fool myself anymore. He was gone. Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz was dead, gone forever, and there was nothing that could ever bring him back into my life.

But though it wouldn't help, the only thing I could even make myself do was cry.

"Oh no, Perry!" I heard someone's voice shout, and I felt arms wrap around my body and lift me off the ground. Though it was pretty hard to tell while I wept uncontrollably, I assumed it was Phineas. I continued weeping, not showing the slightest sign of calming down as I felt myself being gently rocked back and forth.

I could barely hear anything as my mind and brain functions slowly broke down while my depression grew stronger, but I swore I could hear Carl's voice in the background. I thought I hear him struggling to sputter what sounded like some sort of apology to me, but it became fainter as someone led him out of the room. Or maybe I was the one being let out of the room. I couldn't really tell much of anything as my mourning grew louder. I just nuzzled my beak into Phineas's chest as he caressed me tighter and waited for the pain to go away.

As I drifted more out of my current situation and deeper into the deepest, darkest corners of my mind, a flash of memories emerged and clouded over my other thoughts. All the things I had hastily shoved in the back of my mind on that very day, all the memories that I had hoped to never bring back, were now flooding my brain as the sadness continued to take over my thoughts and emotions. Every last good memory and even the bad memories of everything that had happened over the years were overwhelming my mind. I had thoughts from way back, like the day where me and Doofenshmirtz had first met and even more recent ones like that last hug we had shared before he perished forever. I recalled everything, from his goofy pointless schemes to his clumsy nature, and his boring evil scheme monologues and even his awful singing that I secretly loved putting up with. I missed his messy hair and his pharmacist-looking clothes, and even his high screechy German accented voice that I had come to love so much. I remembered all of our grueling relentless battles of good vs. evil that we had engaged in nearly every day since that faithful day outside the photo store that we had met. But mostly I remembered the good times. Those pleasant little moments in our lives where we had discretely acted more like friends than enemies. Like when I helped him once in a while or saved his life, or even the time where Doof had admitted to our friendship. I tried to dodge past the memories of that depressing time where I had shortly been replaced by Peter the Panda. Or when I had been reassigned to the Regurgitator and he came to my rescue. But this flow of mixed memories came on increasingly strong, unfortunately increasing my own state of extreme depression.

Why? Why did he have to go? Why did it have to be my nemesis and not me? I miss Doofenshmirtz so much! I love him and I miss him and I can't live without him anymore! I'm sick and tired of crying, I just want him back already! No, I NEEDED him back! I couldn't live like this anymore! Why did he have to go? WHY?

As I asked these questions to my self in my head, and as my happiness and overall sanity slipped away from me, I felt my consciousness gradually deteriorating as well as my eyes closed in sleep. The last thing I felt was the subtle movement underneath me as Phineas continued rocking me while he carried me up the stairs to his room. Then I felt the gentle softness of his bed beneath me and the feeling of his body heat leaving my side and causing me to shiver slightly as he placed me on his bed. Then all my thoughts were cleared out as I curled up in a ball, slowly drifting off for the first time since my life came crashing down.


	22. Chapter 22

**Major Monogram's POV**

What have I done? What in the world was I thinking? Why did I have to do this? Why did I have to torture so many people and ultimately lose the trust of our best agent and eventually all our agents? What is wrong with me? Since when was I the villain? Since when did I become the incompetent, malicious murderer that not only killed a man but shattered the very lives of everyone else? What has become of the man that used to be the head of an agency made to help people? Why did I do all of this, WHY?

These are the questions that continued to cripple my mind even greater than I was physically crippled at the moment. This is pretty much all I could think about, at least when I could think under this unbearable pain that shot through my body frequently as I lied here motionless. I was pretty sure it had been a week in a half now that I was suffering in this hospital, but my thoughts were so mangled and uncertain that I could barely tell right from wrong any more, never mind tell time. My tremendously diabolical actions resulted in a total melt down, leaving me mentally scarred and disturbed for life.

If I was this broken I couldn't imagine what Perry must have been feeling right now. Pulling that trigger was the most awful, regretful thing that I ever did in my life and that dark, crucial unforgiving action will haunt me forever. I killed him. I killed Dr. Doofenshmirtz. But at what cost? Why would I even think that would help anything? God knows what was going on in my head at that very moment or even throughout this whole catastrophic episode, I don't even know what the hell I was thinking! Not only did I take away someone's life right before my eyes, I crushed plenty of others at the same time. I might as well of shot Perry, he's probably going through hell as I speak under the tragic loss of his nemesis.

Speaking of going through hell, I felt my broken leg twinge as the mere thought of pain crossed my mind. Currently I was pretty much in a full body cast, with one broken leg, another couple of sprains in the other leg, a dislocated shoulder, four shattered ribs and various gashes and scrapes and bite marks across my entire body. And after the incident the paramedics that basically had to piece me back together said I had a concussion and a couple missing teeth too. As much anesthetics the doctors put me under it seems like this intolerable pain just won't go away. Or maybe that's just the agony of my heavy heart, which can never be cured even after a week and a half at the hospital. And even though it seemed like I was suffering quite a lot it was noting compared to the damage I had previously done.

Another tingling of soreness carried through out my body and forced me to shudder, but I let it. I wanted to suffer. After all the devastating sadness I had left behind me in the path of destruction I had created, I surely deserved it. I deserved to die due to what I've done! I wished I would die here. I didn't have a heart anymore, so I didn't deserve to live after all the pain I had caused everyone else. I was completely inhumane to have done such a thing, and I never wanted to be happy or see the light of day again. People like me should be locked away to rot in prison for the rest of their miserable lives, and never be allowed to interact with people or eat or sleep or even breathe. I just wanted to end this horrific life immediately and go straight to the fiery bowels of hell where I could pay off my debt in the excruciating eternal suffers that I deserved. But no matter how much I was cruelly tortured for what I did, it would never bring back the lives I destroyed or slaughtered altogether.

I looked up and focused my attention above me, counting the tiny barely visible cracks in the shabby hospital ceiling in a desperate yet failed attempt to take my mind off things. I just still couldn't comprehend no matter how hard I tried what was running through my mind back then. I didn't recall why I had become the very thing I wished to destroy, or why I wanted to destroy it in the first place. I just can't understand why it took countless slaughtered and one first hand murder for me to finally understand the point that Perry was trying to get me to see. All I wanted to do was destroy evil, but I was taking away innocent lives in the process. Maybe those evil scientists I had executed didn't deserve to die, and the only real evil here was me. I just wished I would have realized this earlier, and maybe this entire unfortunately tragic situation could have been avoided.

It's just that I wasn't thinking. I didn't understand the extremely strong bonds that Perry had formed with his nemesis. If I understood from the start why Perry loved him so, I wouldn't have wanted to kill either of them. And all it took was the pull of a trigger and the loss of a life for me to realize this. Why did it take these extreme measures for me to finally figure out that they were friends? Was I so oblivious to their secret friendship for all these years that it took many innocent deaths and a whole bunch of unnecessary commotion for me to finally notice that they loved rather than hated each other? Why was I so blind to this? I absolutely hated my self! I couldn't believe that I had done this to the two strongest friends I had ever met! It took years for their beautiful hidden love to form and I severed the bonds that held them so close together so insensitively!

I heaved a long, deep, mournful sigh. I had never been more deeply frustrated and overall infuriated with myself or anyone than I was at this moment. I wanted to kill myself so badly right now, and if I wasn't in so much insufferable agony at the moment I might just reach over to the cord that plugged in the machines that were the only things supporting my life right now and just yank them out, shutting out the lights for me forever. But every time I made the slightest little effort to move, extensive pain coursed through my veins and fought back the numbing effects of the strong anesthetic, forcing me to cringe in throbbing pain again. But this horrendously sharp, piercing agony was nothing to compare to the mangled, twisted mess that was weighing down my already heavy and partially shattered heart.

I hastily snapped my eyes shut, squeezing them closed and praying for sleep so that I could escape these hauntingly recurring thoughts that kept orbiting my restless mind and preventing me from drifting off. Falling asleep wouldn't solve this awful mess I had gotten myself and everyone else wrapped into, but it would at least put it off for a while so I could recharge and rethink my dreadful actions.

"S-sir?"

My eyelids snapped back up like blinds covering windows at the small yet clear sound of someone's voice echoing across the emergency room. I tried with all my might to look around, but with all my limbs hanging from ropes so that my broken bones can heal it was nearly impossible to lift my head up far enough to see who was there. And in my attempts to sit up another stroke of sheer pain grabbed hold of my body and forcefully pushed me back down as I let out a quiet yet agonizing cry of pain.

"Major Monogram!"

I heard the voice call again, and after a moment of recovering and recollecting my jumbled thoughts I searched my memory and recognized the voice unmistakably as Carl's. I heard footsteps slowly and cautiously cross the small room as my former intern approached my hospital bed. I looked up into his immense, innocent green eyes behind his thick purple glasses and pondered why on earth he of all people would be here. I felt like besides Agent P, Carl was the one I had betrayed the most. He must hate my guts for suddenly turning so diabolical on him like that. I wouldn't blame Carl if he never wanted to talk to me or see me again after all that had happened. But then why was he here?

"M-Major Monogram?" Carl repeated, but with less sympathy in his voice this time now that he saw I was no longer in pain. Instead he wore a stern, almost angry expression as he glared down at my crippled, unmoving body in pure hatred and disgust at the mere sight of me. He was still stuttering though, as if even in this state I was a menace to him and he was still too afraid and too nervous to even talk to me.

"C-Carl? What do you want?" I said weakly.

"I was just checking up on you. I'm depressed to see that you're still alive." Carl said harshly with his arms crossed.

"I figured you would say something like that. God, I want to kill myself! I can't believe what a selfish inconsiderate jerk I've been! I want to rot in prison for this!" I cried, almost tearing up in anger at myself now.

"Not to be mean or anything," my former intern said calmly. "But I agree."

"I know." I said. "I hate myself."

"Do you realize how broken Agent P is?" Carl said sternly. "I just visited him, and just mentioning Doofenshmirtz made him go completely crazy! You've completely ruined his life by shooting his best friend! Why did you even do that?" he said loudly, almost yelling now.

"I don't know what I was thinking." I admitted. "I just thought that Doofenshmirtz really was evil. I wanted to be rid of him and anyone else who may be a threat to the Tri-State Area, to make lives for the agents easier! I guess I realized too late that by destroying Agent P's nemesis I was also destroying his best friend…"

"Oh, you think?" Carl said sarcastically with just a hint of pure hatred lingering behind his harsh words. "You think maybe you're ready to—I don't know—apologize or something?"

"Carl, apologizing wouldn't help at this point." I pointed out. "If Perry was as depressed as you said, than a mere 'I'm sorry' wouldn't be enough to help him move on. Nothing could bring his nemesis back!"

But as soon as those last few words escaped my lips, a brilliant idea hatched inside my over-stressed brain. Maybe there was something that could bring Doofenshmirtz back! I mean, he always built these crazy impossible inventions every day, and even though they were evil it was still pretty amazing for one man to defy the laws of nature through his devices like that. Maybe I could somehow create something to revive the doctor! I thought about it for a minute, but the more I pondered the idea the crazier it sounded. First of all, how could I build a device with such power and advanced technology that it could actually bring someone back to life? That's a pretty huge feat for someone of my nature who could barely fix a TV. And now that Doofenshmirtz and the rest of the evil scientists in Danville were obliterated, there were no other geniuses who could build something so crazy powerful. It was just completely impractical.

Or was it? Maybe there was someone else who could build such a device! A small grin spread across my face as yet another clever idea sparked up in my mind. There was someone else in Danville who built amazing things every day! Or two someones to be more precise. Agent P's owners! Yes, Phineas and Ferb could build some sort of device that could bring Doofenshmirtz back to life in a heart beat! I'm sure it would take less than one afternoon for them to make it! And when Doofenshmirtz is revived, not only will Perry be happy but it will be a huge weight off my shoulders, so when I do rot in prison at least I can die with a clear conscious.

Of course, it wouldn't earn anyone's forgiveness. I didn't expect anyone to stop hating me if my idea worked, and I'd still hate myself for life. But Perry will finally be happy again once his nemesis is back, and that's all that really mattered. I knew this would work, it had too!

"What's the problem Major Monogram?" Carl asked in a confused tone, probably weirded out by my sudden ecstatic mood and the overjoyed expression of delight mixed with relief spread across my face.

"Carl! I just had the most wonderful idea ever!" I cried out gleefully, almost shouting in my happy mood.

"Uh, okaaaaaaay. What is it then?" he asked hesitantly, still uncertain and creeped out about my sudden change in behavior.

I went on explaining every aspect of my sudden incredible plan to bring back Doofenshmirtz. Once I was done explaining, he still looked extremely perplexed about everything, and even a little doubtful about my perfect little scheme. I frowned at this. Did he not like my idea?

"Sir, you can't possibly think this could work." Carl said distrustfully.

"What?" I said unbelievably. "Carl, Phineas and Ferb built a roller coaster in the backyard. They made shrinking devices and growing devices. They traveled through time, twice! They've broken bunches of implausible world records! They even defied gravity, which you your self witnessed! What on earth makes you think that they couldn't pull this off? Especially if it's to help Perry?"

"Well, when you put it like that…I guess you're right." Carl said, a little less apprehension in his voice now. "But do you really expect Perry to forgive you for all that you've done? Even if you do bring back his nemesis, you're still the one who killed him in the first place!"

I sighed heavily. "No, of course I don't expect anyone to forgive me, especially Perry. I still won't ever forgive myself. But as long as I fix the damage I caused and everyone is happy again, than I'm happy. Even if I have to spend the rest of my life locked up in prison."

I looked back up and noticed that strangely Carl was…sniffling? Now what was his problem?

"Aww, thank you sir!" Carl said sincerely between tears of gratitude. "I'm sure even if Agent P is still mad at you, he'll greatly appreciate this! And the rest of us will too!"

"Alright. I'm glad you appreciate it, I hope everyone else does too." I said. "Now go tell Phineas and Ferb to get working on that machine."

"Should I tell Perry too, Major Monogram?" he asked.

I thought about that for a moment. "No, leave it a surprise. Now go!" I ordered.

Carl gave a quick salute before exiting the small cramped hospital room, making my lips twitch up in a slight smile again. Carl saluting me at my orders reminded me of the good old days working at the O.W.C.A., back when everything was right in the world. I really missed those old times with Carl and Agent P and all the other agents. I just can't believe I gave that all up in my nefarious plot, too. But now I was going to make everything right again, and even though things will never be exactly the same as they were before with me out of the organization, I'm sure everyone else will once again be happy once I fix this mess. And once Doofenshmirtz is alive again, hopefully Perry will be happy again too.


	23. Chapter 23

**Phineas's POV**

I heard Perry making a small rumbling sound in the back of his throat as I carried him gently up the stairs to my bedroom. At first I thought he was still crying, or maybe purring. But as I set him down on my bed and noticed his eyes were shut I realized the sound emitting from him was actually snoring. I was so oblivious to him being asleep at first since I was so unaccustomed to that soothing sound. It had been such a long, long time since I last saw Perry sleeping this peacefully, so I decided to leave the room so that I didn't wake him up.

But I couldn't leave the room. The small turquoise furred secret agent just looked so cute like this, even with the deep bags under his eyes and his depleted stomach due to his lack of sleep and food. It was as if he finally didn't look like a crime-fighting super spy that fights notorious evil villains everyday and goes face to face with death on the brink of danger. He finally looked like a pet to me again, something I hadn't pictured Perry as for what feels like an eternity now. Looking at my beloved pet platypus as he drifted off peacefully like this, his chest gradually rising and falling with his uneven yet calm and relaxed breathing, curled up in a little fluffy ball of turquoise in the center of my bed, it just reminded me of the good old days. Before this incident, when I was oblivious to Perry being a secret agent. Everyone was much happier then. And I'm sure Perry was too. Especially since he still had his nemesis.

As soon as the thought of Dr. Doofenshmirtz crossed my mind, I suddenly remembered something. I silently yet hurriedly rushed over to the other side of the room to my bureau, and started digging through drawers until I found it. I pulled out the small plush doll of Perry's nemesis. Carl had given this to Perry a day or two after he was murdered, and Perry had used it for comfort when he was still bawling his eyes out. But Perry stored it away recently, when he was trying to move on and forget his nemesis. I guessed this cute little doll of Doofenshmirtz reminded him to much of his deceased frenemy. But he probably needed it now more than ever.

I carried it over to Perry and was going to tuck it under his arm when I noticed something sticking out of the back of the plush doll. At first I thought it was a loose thread, but it looked more like a pull string. I looked it over curiously, then pulled the string to see what would happen. To my surprise, it started talking!  
It said (in a high-pitched German accent I immediately recognized as Doofenshmirtz), "Oh hello Perry the Platypus."

I figured that wasn't all it said, so I pulled it again.

"Sorry I couldn't be here to greet you in person but this is," it said.

I pulled the string again.

"A trap!" it finished.

I giggled. Doofenshmirtz had clearly used this in one of his former evil schemes to trap Perry. But strangely enough I felt a small tear roll down my face. I used my free hand to wipe it off, and pondered why I would be crying right then. Maybe I was feeling Perry's pain as I looked at his keepsake memorial of his fallen friend. It was just so depressing that such a beautiful friendship was broken up just because of that heartless fiend that was formerly Perry's boss, Major Monogram. This enraged me. It enraged me that Perry was so depressed because of this. But besides making me angry, it also made me a bit miserable just thinking about it. There had to be something I could do, some way to cheer poor little Perry up in a hard time like this.

I looked back down at the doll I still grasped in my hands, sighing. But oddly enough, it gave me an idea!

My gaze dropped back down onto Perry, who was still curled up in a ball on my bed, still asleep. Though he looked pretty restless and disrupted in his sleep, as if even while he was this peaceful he was still having horribly mournful nightmares, he didn't show any signs of waking up considering how extremely exhausted he was. I smiled, and placed my hand on his head, stroking all the way down to the small of his back. It seemed to calm him down a bit, so I left the room with the doll in my hand.

I slumped down the stairs, still in a pretty bummed mood since Perry was still so miserable. But I had an idea that might help cheer him up a bit once he woke up from his well-needed nap.

I strolled into to kitchen, peeking around the room and spotting my brother at the table, just kind of staring blankly at the wall, but Ferb wore an unusually worried expression on his face. I wondered why he looked so concerned about something, but I just figured he was just as depressed about Perry's behavior as I was. As I approached him, Ferb looked up at me briefly, straining to hide the sadness welling in his deep dark blue eyes since he didn't want me to be worried about him as well.

"Hey Ferb. What happened to Carl?" I asked, suddenly remembering the former intern was previously here.

"He left." Ferb said plainly. "Oh, and he said he was really sorry for making Perry cry again."

I nodded. It wasn't Carl's fault. He didn't mean to make Perry cry. Perry was ready to snap at any moment, none of us can really control how distressed and heartbroken he was.

I suddenly broke away from my thoughts to notice that Ferb was staring at the Doofenshmirtz doll I still clutched curiously.

"Ferb, I know what we're going to do today." I said, feeling a little bit gleeful as the familiar words escaped my lips for the first time in a long while. Ferb's expression sparked up a little at the sound of that too, seeming cheerful that I was finally thinking big again like we did before this summer. Though this idea wasn't really that exciting, I just wanted to give Perry a little present so hopefully he'll be just the slightest bit happier again.

I handed Ferb the Doofenshmirtz doll and started explaining my idea.

"You think maybe you can re-wire the doll a little and filter out the syllables of Doof's voice to recreate a new message?" I asked. "I want to alter it a little to say something else to maybe cheer Perry up."

Ferb nodded, taking the doll into the garage. I followed him, hoping I could help. We pulled out our old tools and got to work immediately. Ferb pried open the doll and ripped out the tape box, while I downloaded the tape onto our laptop and used the same computer editing program we used to edit 'The Curse of the Princess Monster' movie for Candace earlier this summer. I played with the voice modules a little and started piecing together a new message for Perry. It felt so great to run my fingers over the computer keys again, and even though this was such a small project it was just and overwhelmingly wonderful feeling to be working on something with Ferb again, especially since this was for Perry. We downloaded it back onto a new tape and placed it back inside the doll. Ferb gave me the thumbs up sign and together we cleaned up or tools and brought the new Doofenshmirtz doll back up to our room.

I creaked open the door slightly to reveal that Perry was still on my bed, still in a deep sleep as he snored lightly. But he was in a different position now—lying on his back with his arms folded over his chest rather than curled up into a ball.

We silently tiptoed in, careful not to wake him up from the sleep he needed for so long. I made my way over to the bed and gently slipped the doll under Perry's arms. Almost instantly Perry tightened his arms around the talking doll, rolling over on his side and nuzzling his bill up to the plushie as if even in his dreams he somehow knew that Doofenshmirtz was once again by his side. I smiled warmly at this, and as I shot a quick glance I my brother who was a few feet behind me I noticed even Ferb had a small, joyful grin stretched across his face.

But our peaceful moment was interrupted a few moments later as we heard a soft yet urgent knock at the front door from downstairs. Luckily it didn't wake the sleeping platypus, so me and Ferb quietly exited the room and hurried down the stairs to answer the door. When we got there I noticed that Mom had already greeted the unknown visitor, who turned out to be Carl.

"Oh, hello again Carl. Phineas and Ferb are right here if you need them for anything." Mom said, gesturing the red-head towards us as we entered the room. "Just please don't bother Perry. From what I've heard, he's finally sleeping again."

"Of course Mrs. Flynn. Thank you." he said politely as he walked over to us, a peculiarly pleased expression displayed on his freckle-spattered face. I wondered what was up, and why he was visiting twice in one day. But most of all, I speculated why he was so happy.

"Uh, hi Carl." I greeted him. "If you came to apologize, there's really no need. You actually somehow got Perry to fall asleep, which he really needed."

"That's great! But it's not why I'm here." Carl said, his expression turning serious. "I actually just got back from visiting Major Monogram at the hospital."

I gasped along with my brother at this sudden confession. Why was Carl visiting that jerk? After all he had done to Perry, why would he ever want to talk to that cruel, cold-hearted merciless freak? I wanted that man dead for murdering so many people, including Perry's nemesis! Why on earth would Carl even consider visiting him?

"Oh, don't freak out guys." he said reassuringly, apparently noticing our appalled expressions. "I wasn't visiting him out of sympathy or anything, I was only going to see him and let him know how miserable he made Perry. I was going to try and squeeze an apology out of the guy."

"Why?" I asked. "What good would an apology do? What's done is done."

"I don't know. I just needed to see if he knew that what he did was wrong. I was curious to see if even after all the pain he caused he still thought he was right." he admitted.

"And?" I asked, encouraging Carl to continue.

"He was completely broken down Phineas." he said. "I mean, he was going crazy! Monogram said that he wanted to kill himself for what he did to Perry and everyone else."

"Well, at least he finally came to his senses." Ferb said.

"Yeah, that's good. But I'm still never forgiving that evil monster of a man." I said, crossing my arms and wielding a fuming expression at just the thought of that bad, pitiless man.

"Yeah, well, he kind of said that." Carl said. "Monogram said he didn't expect and really didn't want anyone to forgive him for what he did. But nevertheless he still gave me a wonderful idea!"

Carl's mood brightened up quite a bit at this thought, his face displaying the same mildly happy and anxious ambiance the intern exhibited when he first arrived. I was a bit confused at this. Monogram actually had some sort of 'wonderful idea'? What on earth could he have up his sleeve now? Hasn't he done enough damage? Well then again, Carl did claim that his former boss had had a dramatic change of heart when he last saw him. So maybe it was possible that he did want to help.

"Monogram had an idea to bring Doofenshmirtz back alive! He said maybe if he could find someway to make some sort of device that could revive him, then Perry would be extremely happy again and therefore so would everyone else!" Carl beamed. "And you two are definitely fit to pull it off!"

I pondered this for a moment, then a huge smirk spread across my triangular face as well. It was a brilliant idea! I felt like slapping myself in the forehead now! What was I thinking? Or rather, why wasn't I thinking? I just couldn't believe I hadn't though of something like this earlier! I guess I was just too hopelessly pessimistic to think since Perry had been so down after the incident. But this kind of thing was right up our ally! I'm sure me and Ferb could make some sort of machine to revive Perry's nemesis, and hopefully reverse this mess!

"Wow, that's a great idea Carl!" I said eagerly, already impatient to get started on the project.

"So you think you guys can do it?" Carl asked.

Ferb pulled out his tool box as if to answer Carl's question, making him smile again in delight.

"Great! I'll got tell Perry the great news!" I said, already heading for the stairs when Carl caught me by the arm, halting me in my tracks.

"You shouldn't tell Perry." Carl said. "First of all, he needs his sleep. And second, you don't want to tell him now, do you? You shouldn't spoil the surprise! Keep it a secret for now. I mean don't you want to see the look on his face once he sees Doofenshmirtz alive again?"

"Hmmm," I said, thinking about it for a moment before responding. "You're right, we should keep it a surprise."

"Good!" he said. "Now you two should get working on it right away!"

I turned to my brother and smiled.

"Ferb, I know what else we're going to do today!"


	24. Chapter 24

**Perry's POV**

"_Doof!" I cried worriedly as I freed myself of the huge cage, running over to my nemesis's side. But Doof's chest wasn't going up and down to signal his breathing even the slightest bit, which got me worried. _

_Everyone in the entire room was watching me now without speaking a word, everyone nervously taking in this spectacle, for watching was really all they could do. _

_I checked the evil scientist's pulse, and then his heartbeat, and repeated this for quite some time. I just wouldn't let myself believe the truth, even though I knew it deep in my heart. I didn't allow myself to think rationally, for I was too awestricken to comprehend my nemesis's already decided fate._

_"No, no! You can't be dead Doofy! I-I need you! I can't live without you! You can't just be…just be…gone…" I chanted repeatedly to the deceased body, and almost to myself. I was beginning to sob, my now dampened fur glistening just the slightest bit in the intensely bright spotlight that centered the room. _

_Finally, after what seemed like ages, I finally gave up on checking Doofenshmirtz's vital signs, and stopped. I stopped and dropped to the floor, sitting in a puddle of my nemesis's blood mixed with my own tears as I sobbed uncontrollably. My eyes gushed tears of sorrow while my heart gushed a river of sadness as I mourned. This was not only the end of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, but also the end of my happiness for eternity. _

My eyes suddenly shot open at the last scene of my vivid dream, and I sat straight up in bed, catching my breath. I looked around the room a few times, but fortunately I was just in Phineas and Ferb's bedroom. None of that had actually happened. Well, it did actually happen a week ago, there was no hiding that. I was just glad it wasn't just happening now.

My breathing was still pretty heavy since the horrible reoccurring nightmare had shaken me up quite a bit. But even though the dream had scared me witless, I still felt a little better that I had finally gotten some sleep for once. I no longer felt as restless as I did before, but as you could imagine my stomach was practically eating away at itself waiting for some sort of food. I had never been so starving!

But oddly enough I was still too depressed to eat. I sighed mournfully as my thoughts focused back on the familiar dream that had just awoken me. A couple of tears streamed down m cheek at just the thought of my nemesis. I missed him so much!

I was about to get up off the bed to drag myself back downstairs when I noticed something beside me on the bed. I picked the doll up and looked into its huge, dark blue eyes that simulated the real Doofy's so perfectly. Now I felt like crying again as the doll brought back some more memories that I wanted to keep sealed up in the back of my mind forever. But looking back at this doll of him just made all the memories come spilling back out again. So I just couldn't help sobbing once more.

I hugged the plush doll close to me, snuggling it in my arms for comfort. But I deeply wished it was the real Doofenshmirtz and he was the one cuddling me in his arms right now. I wished that some way I could just have one last hug from my beloved Doofy, just one more chance to say good bye. That was all I needed to make me slightly happier. Even though I knew deep down that I would never again be happy if every time I even thought of my deceased frenemy it brought me so much pain.

I looked back at the doll as I nuzzled my beak into it, and saw the pull string sticking out of its back. I could still remember that very day and that very scheme like it was yesterday. I recalled vividly when I had showed up at D.E.I. and found this doll in place of my nemesis, and pulling the string had just turned out to be yet another one of his traps. I remembered being shot up into space to this big space station that pretty much looked exactly like D.E.I, just turned on its side. I never could figure out how Doof could have paid for all this stuff in space with only his alimony checks. Anyways, he started droning on with some really long, pathetic back story. I always got pretty bored with his frequent flash backs and found them extremely annoying, but now that he's gone I wish I would have appreciated them more. After that he said something about the Leaning Tower of Pisa and how he was pissed off because they didn't sell pizza there. Now on the outside of course I was staring at him like he was an idiot but on the inside I was cracking up. He indeed was an idiot, lacking enough common sense to know such simple things like how turning the moon wouldn't do anything to its shadow or how it was pronounced PISA not PIZZA. But he was an idiot in a good way, and that was just one of the many quirky little flaws about Doofenshmirtz that just made me love him so much more. So besides all the other weird things that had happed that day, such as Doof's lack of common sense and his stupid pointless plan to turn his own building, I also learned from that day that it was possible to break your echo. I rolled my eyes and giggled a little bit as I looked back at the doll, wondering how such a small artifact from the past could conjure up so many strange yet hilarious memories.

Then I looked back at the pull string on the doll's back. I really wanted to just give it a pull, just so I could hear his high-pitched German accented voice just one more time. Considering there was no point in trying to forget Doofenshmirtz anymore since everything I look at brings back memories of him, I guessed it wouldn't hurt to hear his voice again. Maybe it would even help a little bit.

I hesitantly grabbed the string and pulled it, but what came out of the doll's mouth was not at all what I expected.

"Please don't cry Perry the Platypus." it said.

A look of confusion spread across my face at the sound of this. This wasn't what the doll was supposed to say. Was I hearing things? Was I imagining that the doll had said that? No, I couldn't have gone that crazy. Or could I? Well, I was severely depressed, I guessed it was possible. But I decided to pull the string again just to make sure.

"I know I'm gone now but you shouldn't blame this on yourself." it said.

I cocked my head to the side and looked at the doll strangely. No, I hadn't imagined it. The Doofy doll actually said that, and perfectly in Doof's voice too, right down to his German accent. I was a little perplexed and even disturbed at this, but I decided to listen to the doll's unexpected message anyways. It was apparently trying to tell me something. The mini Doofenshmirtz told me not to cry and not to be depressed just because he was gone. Well, maybe he was right. But I couldn't just stop being so depressed! I missed him so much, I would never stop crying over my dead nemesis, even if Doofenshmirtz himself told me otherwise!

I got frustrated at his impossible message and was about ready to fling the doll across the room when I remembered something. I vaguely recalled that the Doofy doll had three messages before. I pulled the string one last time to reveal the last of his strangely altered lines.

"I love you." the doll said.

My brain along with the rest of me altogether froze at the sound of this, and I think I felt my eyes welling up with tears again. _I love you_. That was why he wanted me to get over him and not be so sad. That was why he wanted me to suck it up and accept his fate and ultimately stop spending the rest of my life crying over him altogether. Because he loved me. Doofenshmirtz wouldn't want me to be in pain just because he was no longer with me. No, even if this doll was really saying these things or if it was a crazy hallucination fabricated from my own mind, the real Doofy wouldn't want me to just give up the rest of my life. It's just not healthy. He was right, as much as I hated to admit it I should move on.

But it was just so hard! I pulled the soft plush doll to my chest and cuddled it close to me again, once again letting my immense everlasting sadness out through my tears. "I love you too Doofenshmirtz!" I cried between sobs, hoping that wherever the real Doofy was watching from above he would hear. I stayed there, slowly rocking back and forth as I continued to snuggle the doll to my chest. I remained like this for quite a while.

But…no! I, I shouldn't just sit here and cry like this! Doofy may be dead, but he was in a better place right now. And whether he had completely forgotten about me as he strained to take control over the big Tri-State Area in the sky or if he was spending every lasting moment staring down at me from heaven, missing me just as severely as I missed him now, I knew he would hate to see me like this. And he still loved me, just like I still loved him. And loved ones don't like it when each other are depressed.

I wiped the tears from my face and instantly seized my intensive mourning. I took a huge, replenishing breath and looked back down at the doll I still hugged tightly in my arms. Except this time, I didn't break out crying. My lips curved up in a slight smile as I looked into the dark blue eyes of the mini version of my nemesis. Rest in peace, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, you are not forgotten.

Then as I resumed lovingly hugging the doll, I couldn't help hearing the bedroom door creak open slightly. I looked up and wasn't surprised to see Phineas and Ferb stroll in. But they looked quite joyful for some reason. I wondered why for a few moments, but I just figured they were glad to see I was finally smiling again as I squeezed the Doofenshmirtz doll in my arms.

"Hey Perry." Phineas said calmly, sitting down on the bed next to me. "It looks like you liked our little present, huh?"

So that's what had happened to my Doof plush! I felt like slapping myself in the face for not realizing this sooner. I should have expected that Phineas and Ferb were the ones who messed with it while I was sleeping.

"Yes, yes I did." I answered cheerfully.

"W-wow Perry!" Phineas exclaimed. "You sound strangely…happy for once. What got you in such a great mood?"

"Phineas, I'm not the least bit happy." I said. "You know as well as I do that I'm still miserable. I'm just a little bit cheerful at the moment, since I really liked my present."

"Oh, well I'm glad to hear that." Phineas said. "We have another present for you now, if you're up for it."

"Really? Well, what is it?" I asked curiously.

"We'll have to go somewhere to give it to you." he said, leaving a short pause indicating that I probably wouldn't like what was coming. "Perry, would you mind going to your nemesis's funeral?"

My heart just about dropped. I cuddled the doll tighter and made a small, helpless whimpering noise to indicate a no. Doof's funeral was the absolute last place I wanted to go! If I took one look at his body lying in his casket I would surely lose it! I had just partially gotten over crying my eyes out for now, why were they trying to ruin it by bringing me to that dreaded place?

"I suppose that's a no." Phineas said, disappointment lingering in his voice as he tried to stay positive. "But Perry, you don't understand. Don't you want your present?"

"No!" I snapped sternly. "If it means I have to go to his funeral and get myself all depressed again than you can keep your stupid present!"

"But Perry," Phineas continued to bargain with me.

"No!" I said one final time, sealing the conversation.

Phineas sighed and picked himself up off the bed. He dragged himself across the room and to the door, looking as if he was about to give up in trying to persuade me. But then the awkward silence was broken when Ferb opened his mouth and spoke something for once.

"Perry, I know you think that this whole gathering will bring back a bunch of new unwanted memories both good and bad which will send you back into a spiraling depression once again, but the present you see isn't the funeral itself. Once you receive your present at the funeral I'm sure you will see that it was worth coming, as will everyone else. And even though you think otherwise I'm sure Doofenshmirtz would want you at his funeral. Just think of it as your last chance to give him a proper good bye, and I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you went since he loves you and I know he'd be watching you from heaven. So please come to the funeral with us, for Doof's sake." Ferb said, leaving both me and his brother gawking in awe at the extremely long yet very touching speech from the seldom-talking Britt.

"F-Ferb, I never heard you say anything that beautiful or really that long in my entire life." I said warmly.

"Well I may not talk much but it does leave me plenty of time to think about what I say before I say it." Ferb said in his charming British accent.

"So, Perry?" Phineas asked. "You gonna answer Ferb or what?"

I sighed. "Fine. I, I'll go. But I'll show up, see my present, and leave. Okay?"

"That's all we expect you to do boy." Phineas said, petting me soothingly on the head and causing me to purr slightly.

I got up off the bed and followed the boys out of the room, still walking sluggishly since I was still pretty weak from lack of food. But I never let go of the Doofenshmirtz doll I clutched tightly in my arms. I paused in my tracks and pulled the string three times, skipping right to the line that made him say "I love you." I looked down at the plush Doofy adoringly. I was never going to let go of this doll under any circumstances. In fact the only thing that would loosen my grasp on this smaller, softer version of my deceased nemesis would be seeing Doofy himself, alive and well again. And at the moment I was oblivious to how close I really was to actually seeing my nemesis alive once more.

***

"Well, we're here!"

I looked up after Phineas's announcement to notice that our short walk to the local cemetery had come to an end. Doof's funeral was being held outside at the site of his soon-to-be grave. I shivered a bit, not only because I was nervous and this place creeped me out but because there was an unusually chilling summer breeze whispering in the wind and causing me to shudder. This was pretty peculiar, considering it was the middle of August and still not even close to Autumn. I realized as I looked above me that the sky was pretty gloomy as well. Almost as if the whole world just wasn't itself on this depressing occasion, and Mother Nature herself seemed to be mourning along with us.

I looked around and recognized just about all of the people that were sitting on benches set up around the place of the ceremony, and there weren't that many people there to begin with. I noticed Vanessa and Charlene in the first row of course. And I guessed I wasn't surprised to see Roger as well. He may be pretty busy being the Mayor of Danville and all but even Roger wouldn't put off his big brother's funeral for the world. I gazed around the rows but didn't see his mother anywhere. I wasn't all that shocked though. From what I've heard from Doof's countless back stories she neglected him just as much as his cruel, heartless father, so she could rot in hell for all I cared. I also spotted Carl and Pinky there too, and more shockingly Peter the Panda sitting there along with them. But that was pretty much it. I don't think I had ever seen an emptier funeral. I sighed, and though this fact disappointed me it also made sense. Besides family, Doofy really didn't have anyone else, since I was his one and only friend in life.

I shuddered again, which was strange since there wasn't even a breeze that time. But suddenly I felt a little bit calmer and more relaxed, as if I could sense Doofy's presence as he looked down at me from heaven, like Ferb said. It wasn't an eerie feeling at all though. It actually made me feel more comfortable that my friend was still watching over me from beyond our world.

But even though I felt a little bit more comfortable I didn't feel like breaking out crying in front of everyone, so instead of stepping forward and taking a seat I stayed put where I was, folding my arms awkwardly. I just decided to wait for whatever present the boys had for me then I would leave immediately. But as soon as another breeze passed through the air and caused me to shiver uncontrollably again, it felt as if my cheeks were colder than usual. I wiped my paw over my face and realized it was damp. Great! I was already crying! I pulled the Doofy doll I still clutched in my free hand into my arms and squeezed it tightly again, hoping to calm myself down. I secretly hoped no one would see me with this, which might be a little bit embarrassing.

Phineas and Ferb ignored the fact that I wasn't following them and walked up in front of the crowd rather than taking a seat. It looked as if they were going to make some sort of announcement. I just hoped they wouldn't mention me or anything.

"May I have everyone's attention please?" Phineas said over the crowd, seizing all conversations and making the whole cemetery absolutely silent bedsides the slight whispering sound as the wind rushed by.

"We are all gathered here today in remembrance of someone who may have been one of the most neglected, unrecognized people in the entire Tri-State Area." Phineas started. "And even though all of you have known Heinz Doofenshmirtz way longer than both me and my step brother, who had only recently met him on the very day of his death, we know someone whom Doof was extremely important to. Even though Doofenshmirtz was portrayed as a bit of an idiot at times and even tried to be evil by hatching notorious schemes to control Danville, this person stuck by Doof and never lost faith in him. Even though these two were meant to be enemies this former secret agent wallows in sorrow at the loss of the man who in reality was a very special friend. But there's no reason for you to be so depressed anymore Perry."

Once he mentioned my name, Phineas turned his attention around the rest of the people and his gaze fell on me, causing everyone else to turn and look at me too. I blushed a little and tried to hide my tears, and as soon as I realized that everyone was staring at the Doofy doll in my hands I shoved it behind my back in a desperate attempt to hide it. But I noticed Vanessa smirk a little bit at this.

"There's no need for you Perry the Platypus or anyone else here to be sad anymore, because we are not gathered here today for a funeral but for a revival!" Phineas continued. "You may think that Heinz is gone forever, but think again! Behold!"

At this point Ferb pulled out a small device that looked like a laser gun out from behind his back and held it out for everyone to see.

"It's our genuine Bring-Back-Doofenshmirtz-Inator!" he announced.

A look of confusion and bewilderment was suddenly displayed on my face. What did Phineas and Ferb have up their sleeves now? I watched in shock and perplexity as they continued.

"So, without further ado…" Phineas said, and Ferb pulled the trigger on the device as he aimed it for Doof's coffin.

I had no idea what they were doing, but an enormous, blinding, luminous white light flooded the crowd and seemed to cover the entire world even as it shined brightly over us. I had to cover my eyes so that they wouldn't burn clean out of their sockets as the light blocked out everything else in my vision. But I felt the strange feeling again. The cold, shivery feeling I had gotten a few minutes ago when I entered this depressing cemetery, the feeling that was spooky but somehow comforting and loving. As if I felt the presence of some mysterious force watching over me, perhaps Doofenshmirtz watching from above. But as the light grew it felt closer, almost as if an angel was in my very presence right at this moment, filling me with overwhelming flashes of love and happiness.

As I continued covering my eyes, I heard quite a few gasps from the crowd, and an extremely weird noise before me. The noise sounding like the magical tingling noise I always imagined a fairy would make. But it seemed like the light had died down, so I hesitantly opened my eyes to reveal what had happened.

I almost jumped a mile when I saw something extremely peculiar up at the front of everyone, right in front of the casket. It seemed like a million little beams of light, almost like hundreds upon hundreds of magical, sparkly fireflies clumping together and swirling around in the air. But as they continued to swirl they began to take on a more profound shape. I gawked at these supernatural, glowing lights in awe as the continued to form something before my very eyes, and then another blinding flash of mysterious light filled the area and I had to once again look away from this strange fairy-tale like sight before me.

When I looked back in front of me, I was caught so much off guard that I instantaneously dropped my Doofy doll and clamped my hands over my mouth, gasping in absolute shock and disbelief at the miraculous presence before me.

I…I…I just couldn't believe it! I continued to look him over, from the messily scattered chestnut brown clump of hair sitting atop his almost triangular head to the deep bags still very visible under his deep innocent dark blue eyes that seemed to glisten even in the lack of sunlight. I scanned over him from his bright white lab coat and his unmistakable slouch, taking in every aspect of his appearance, but nothing had changed. Every little detail of his face and clothes and over all look in general was exactly how I remembered it. I wondered if maybe I was imagining all this, or maybe just having another crazy improbable dream, except a wonderful, breathtakingly realistic and content dream instead of my consistent nightmares. But I felt my heart beating faster and with more zest than ever, as if my soul could sense his very presence and love that beamed off of his figure just as light beamed off the surface of the sun. The warm, blissful feeling pulsing through my veins as my eyes welled up with tears of joy assured me that I was far from imagining things.

No, I wasn't seeing things! He was here as clear as day! Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz was back!

The supposedly deceased evil doctor rubbed his head and looked around in shock and confusion. He looked around anxiously in disbelief, and then looked frantically over himself. He looked as doubtful as me at first but after a few moments he laughed heartedly once he realized that what he was seeing was very much true.

"I, I'm alive!" he cried in overwhelming joy and relief. Even his unmistakable high-pitched German accent made my heart skip a beat, as it was even more beautifully perfect than I remembered it to be!

But after those words escaped his lips, his frantic and delighted gaze fell elsewhere, and you could see his eyes light up more colorfully and brightly than ever as they spotted me behind the rest of the crowd. The huge dark blue pupils sitting in the center of the doctor's restless eyes started pouring tears just as mine did.

"Perry!" he said, but the word was just barely a whisper as he mouthed my name as could barely even say it due to his exceedingly joyful and disbelieving mood.

"Doofy!" I cried, running up past all the rows of spectators and catapulting myself directly into his arms, nuzzling my beak into his chest and purring more than ever.

Doofenshmirtz didn't say another word as he clasped his arms around me tighter and more meaningfully than ever, cuddling my small platypus body to his chest and continuing to cry. It wasn't until this very moment that I realized how much I had really missed about my nemesis since he had been gone from my life. I missed the sweetness of his voice, and his goofy, clumsy exterior from his messy wind-blown hair to his oversized shoes. I missed the sweet, clean aroma of his lab coat that I had my nose nuzzled into. But most of all, I missed the warm, loving feeling of his body heat enveloping around me as I cuddled myself close to Doofy's chest. He just gave me that heart warming feeling of undying bliss and compassion as our thick bonds of friendship and love wrapped around us and ensured our eternal friendship, just as our arms wrapped around each other in this affectionate hug right now. I never wanted this magnificently phenomenal moment to end!

"I love you Doofy, I missed you so much!" I said, almost choking up on my own tears as I struggled to pronounce each word. My uncontrollable purring continued to emerge as a rumbling noise from deep inside my bill and carry out vibrations throughout mine and Doof's entire bodies.

"I love you too Perry the Platypus!" Doof cried, his tears still streaming down his face and dripping off his pointy nose like raindrops, dampening my soft, thick, turquoise fur along with my own salty tears as we sobbed happily together.

I just vaguely heard cheers and gasps and adoring 'awww's from the rest of the small crowd that surrounded us, but all other sounds blurred into the background around me as the quiet, soothing sound of Doof's beating heart inside his chest washed out every other noise around me. Pretty soon though I realized that everyone else was surrounding us in our embrace, hugging Doofenshmirtz along with me, but basically both of our attentions were just mainly focused on each other at the moment as we continued to share our feelings of everlasting bliss.

Welcome home Doofenshmirtz.


	25. Chapter 25

**Doofenshmirtz's POV**

"So you seriously wouldn't eat or drink or sleep or…anything while I was gone?" I asked Perry, who shook his head in return.

"Nope. I told you I was depressed." Perry said.

"You should have heard his constant crying." Phineas added. "Perry was in so much pain it was almost as if he was the one who had gotten shot."

In case you're confused, Perry, Phineas, Ferb, and I were sitting around in my apartment at the top floor of D.E.I., discussing anything that was left to clear up. Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Perry's family after I was reunited with Perry and the rest of my loved ones, and after that Perry had stayed the night at my house, reluctant to leave my side after all that had happened. And this morning Phineas and Ferb had come over to visit. So at the moment Phineas, Ferb and Perry were basically explaining to me what exactly had happed after I was dead, and I actually found most of the stuff they were telling me pretty interesting. I was actually very curious as to what life in Danville was like without me for a week and a half.

Besides discussing what had happened while I was gone, Perry had also taken the liberty of introducing me to his owners. He felt that since his family already knew about his double life as a secret agent that I should also know about his cover life as a mindless domesticated animal.

Anyway, Perry had introduced me to his owners, Phineas and Ferb, who I later figured out were the very boys who had built the device to save me. And I also learned that these two little boys that couldn't be over 9 or 10 years old actually build these kind of things everyday! Perry had described their crazy building techniques and inventing skills to be similar to mine, just not used for evil and much cooler. But I had to agree! I mean from what I've heard they built a roller coaster through the city, constructed an actual working time machine, broken many world records including world's tallest building! Plus they've traveled up into space multiple times, raced chariots, built an entire beach in their backyard, etc. I was amazed at all this! I mean I was an amazing inventor myself but this was just phenomenal that these two little boys could actually build these things daily in their backyard from scratch! How do kids their age even get licensed to do that? I'm a full grown man and I don't even have a license to drive a robot! And where do they get the money for all this crazy stuff anyways? I don't think a few years worth of birthday cards, allowance savings, and tooth fairy money would be enough to cover all this stuff. My alimony checks just barely cover my needs. Well, besides these points they were astounding inventors nonetheless. I should take some pointers from them sometime when working on my evil schemes.

So the strange triangle headed boy with the red hair, I learned that his name was Phineas. He was the one that talked the most, and he was a pretty bright child. Very polite too. I don't think I've ever met a 10 year old kid that was as nice and considerate as him. He also seemed pretty talkative too. Unlike his step brother Ferb, who didn't seem to really talk at all. He was still as incredibly smart and multi-talented as his brother, but the green-haired British boy barely said anything for some reason. Maybe he was just shy or something.

And I also met their big sister, Candace. She seemed pretty nice too, but from what Perry told me she didn't like him all that much. In fact before she knew he was actually a secret agent she just thought of Perry as a mindless, repulsive, disgusting little freak. I thought that was pretty offensive, and couldn't imagine how on earth anyone could think of Perry like that! I mean even back when I hated him I still thought as a platypus that Perry was just adorable! Anyways, besides introducing herself she didn't say much else, and she didn't want to come with her brothers today to help explain everything to me. Even though the red-headed girl looked and acted quite a bit different, she reminded me so much of my own daughter. Just like a typical teenager, she always seemed to have somewhere more important to be.

I also met the kids' parents, and oddly enough Linda Flynn, the one I dated back in the 70's, she turned out to be their mom! What are the odds? And she's married now! I wanted to say that I was married now too, but I couldn't, since I'm divorced. So now she became a pop star and managed to get married and have three kids yet I'm still hung up on trying to take over the Tri-State Area! Talk about pathetic…

So overall I really liked Perry's family. Not to single out anyone or anything but I just had to say that Phineas was my favorite out of all of them. I don't know what I liked about this kid. Maybe it's just because he was always so optimistic about everything, and he always thought big, like me. Plus he was pretty constructive in making ideas and plans, and since I'll admit that my evil schemes never seemed to work maybe I could take some lessons from Phineas.

Okay, so besides telling me everything about his other life Perry also started explaining to me exactly what had went on after my death, so he and the boys continued to clarify every last detail of these events now. I was pretty surprised to hear how extremely depressed Perry had been! I felt so sorry for my poor little nemesis, while I was living it up in heaven his life was a living hell! Well, I guess heaven wasn't so much of a paradise for me since I was missing Perry the whole time. But still, it was just depressing to hear every last detail of how deeply miserable Perry's life was without me. From what he explained, he wouldn't even eat or sleep the whole time! In fact yesterday after he had been reunited with me and I offered him something at my apartment was the first time he had eaten anything in weeks! I never realized how exceedingly important to his life I really was.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "That's horrible! How did you even get by being this miserable all this time?"

"Well, at first I cried my eyes out and refused to move or talk or do anything after I lost you." Perry explained. "But then I just kind of went silent, trying as hard as possible to just forget about you, considering everything I saw or touched or heard just ultimately reminded me of you and forced me to burst into tears."

"But Perry got by with this!" Phineas said, handing something to me.

I recognized the object instantly as the little doll I had made of myself back quite a few schemes ago. I was up in space at the time so I had to use this doll to greet Perry the Platypus and trap him. I smiled heartedly at this. I couldn't believe Perry had still remembered it, let alone used it for comfort while I was deceased.

"I, I remember this!" I said, looking over the cute little doll once more.

"You should pull the string Doof!" Phineas told me.

I did what he asked and pulled the little string sticking out of the mini me's back, but was surprised that what I heard wasn't at all the message I was expecting.

"Please don't cry Perry the Platypus…I know I'm gone now but you shouldn't blame this on yourself…I love you."

With each pull of the string the small, soft replica of myself said something completely different from what I had recorded the day I made it. This shocked me a little, but I wasn't hearing things! The doll had actually said that, and in my voice too!

"Do you like it?" Phineas asked. "Ferb and I tricked it out a little to cheer Perry up!"

"Aww, that is so sweet of you boys!" I said, looking down at the doll adorably. "I guess this must have helped Perry a lot, huh?"

I glanced down at my nemesis who was sitting next to me on the couch in my living room. He had an adored expression on his face as he looked back up at me, as if even though it's been a whole day since I was back from heaven he was still getting over his relief of my return. I smiled at this as I noticed certain strands of Perry's fur under his eyes were glistening in the light, revealing small tears that silently trickled down his face. But just like that very moment we were finally reunited, the greatest moment of both our lives as we shared that hug that still seemed to be everlasting even when our arms weren't entwined around each other, they were obviously tears of joy. I noticed of course that Perry had wore the same loving expression on his face towards me since the second I had come back, but bringing the doll back out had curiously gotten him crying again. I placed the doll back in Perry's arms and he immediately hugged it to his chest again.

"So Doofy," he said, apparently trying to change the subject so that I wouldn't notice him crying happily again. "What was heaven like?"

"Was it fluffy and filled with huge candy and clouds and candy clouds?" Phineas asked curiously.

"Not exactly." I started explaining. "Danville in heaven was the exact same as Danville here on earth, but at the same time it was different. Well for one it was covered completely in clouds. But imagine Danville without any crime or fighting or hate. It was just the most blissful place you could ever imagine. Well, for most people at least. I for one couldn't enjoy my time in this place of peace and harmony."

"Well, why not?" Perry asked.

"The same reason you wouldn't continue with your life here on earth." I said. "I missed you too much."

"Oh, well its okay Doofy! I'm here now!" Perry said, climbing onto my lap and hugging me gleefully. I laughed and hugged him back.

"And as far as I'm concerned, that's heaven enough for me!" I said.

"Hey Doof," Phineas suddenly said. "Sorry if it's a bother asking, but I'm just curious, what were you guys like before this whole mess started? Did you still act like best friends like you do now, or were you just plain enemies?"

I thought about that for a moment. I looked back in my memory and started having flashes of that exact period of our relationship. It was a profound question, once you thought about it. Perry and I didn't really act much as friends back when we were fighting. Of course we had our moments when we would get along and help each other, but for the most part we did hate each other. I found that really strange and almost crazily improbable to imagine us loathing each other, since it feels like those days were a life time away from us. I had never really noticed it before, but our relationship had evolved on such a high level from where we were before that it would be inaccurate to even call us nemeses anymore.

"Well to be honest Phineas…we did hate each other." I said, the last words a little troublesome to admit. It was really weird to be using the word 'hate' to describe us again. "Since we were assigned as nemeses. And we did fight each other like regular enemies would for quite some time."

"Wow, it's pretty hard to even imagine you two fighting and despising each other, apposed to now where you can barely go 5 minutes without embracing in another hug again." Phineas said. "This whole experience really changed your lives, and surprisingly for the better. I think it really brought out your perspectives on each other as friends."

"Yeah, I guess it did once you put it like that." Perry said, pausing from hugging me for a moment. "Maybe Monobrow killing Doof wasn't such a bad thing. I mean, he did have the idea to bring him back. And now look at us, we have a stronger love as friends than ever."

"Speaking of Monobrow, you guys said he had a turn of heart, right?" Phineas asked. "Do you think maybe he learned his lesson out of all of this?"

"I don't know," Perry answered. "But I guess it's possible. I'll still never forgive him for putting us all through this commotion though."

Moments later as if on cue, the front door suddenly opened and Carl poked his head in. We all turned towards the door once we heard it creak open, and I was pretty surprised to see him here. What did he want?

"Hi guys," Carl said, blushing a little in embarrassment from disturbing us. "Sorry to burst in like this and disturb your conversation, but I just got an email from Major Monogram saying he wanted Doof and Perry to visit him at the hospital today. It sounded urgent, but it's up to you guys if you want to go."

I was astonished. Why would any of us want to visit him? Or more importantly, why had Monobrow requested us to visit? I don't know, it just seemed a little suspicious to me. I was sure that no matter how much he tried to fool us into thinking he had changed, he was the same twisted, malicious murder that he was just over a week ago. No way did I want to talk to him ever again. And I was sure Perry was twice as infuriated at him as me, so I was sure he would reject the idea of meeting him again too, no matter how urgently he claimed he needed us.

"Uh, that's actually a pretty good idea, we should go visit him." Perry said surprisingly. "I kind of want to talk to him for myself for once."

I gasped and almost accidentally made Perry fall off my lap. I never in a million years expected Perry to say that! I mean even after he had the idea for the 'Bring-Back-Doofenshmirtz-Inator', he's still the one who killed me in the first place! Wouldn't that make Perry infuriated just thinking about him? Even if the death and overall rebirth of me did bring our relationship onto a new, friendlier and stronger bonded level that made both me and Perry much happier, the man was still a killer. Just like Perry and Peter the Panda. Even though the situation is long over, I still know for a fact that Perry will always hold a grudge against the antagonist of the whole issue.

"You really want to talk to that heartless bastard again Perry?" I said in bewilderment. "But I thought you hated him! If I brought you within 30 feet of that jerk I would imagine you trying to violently kill him off for what he did!"

"But Doof, I am still mad at him for the rest of my life." Perry admitted. "But I just want a couple of things cleared up. I won't believe that he's had a change of heart until I see for myself, and even then I can't forgive him. But I just need to know if that sick twisted freak of a man had actually learned his lesson. Only then will I spare a bit of forgiveness for him in my heart again, and overall my feelings for Major Monogram will be…neutral."

"I, I understand." I said. "You just need to make sure that he got what was coming to him and had a complete turn of heart after this whole experience, so you don't have to go on being completely enraged at him. I guess we can go, but still just try not to kill him no matter how much you want to strangle the guy. "

"Okay, but if he says one thing that would make me want to rip his throat out I'm counting on you guys to hold me back." Perry said in a serious tone, but it still made the rest of us giggle in return.

"Don't worry, you won't be the only one that has to strongly fight the urge to knock him clear into next week." I confessed. "You might be the one holding me down."

"So is it settled then?" Carl asked. "Do you guys want to talk to Major Monogram or no?"

"Yes, we will." I said reluctantly, still dreading seeing his face again. "But just don't expect me to say anything."

"You guys want to come along too?" Perry asked, directing his question towards Phineas and Ferb, who nodded simultaneously in agreement.

"Sure, we'd love to tag along!" Phineas said enthusiastically. "I just hope Major Monogram isn't as frightening and completely bonkers as he was the day he captured us. I was petrified of him then!"

"Don't worry." Perry said reassuringly to the boys. "If Monogram changed as much as Carl claimed he had, then he shouldn't be near as scary as he was when you guys met him. Besides, even if he was I would never in a million years let him hurt you guys or any of my loved ones ever again like he did to Doofy before."

"Alright, let's go." I said unenthusiastically, following Carl out the door with Perry and the boys close behind me. I just hoped Perry and Carl were right about Monobrow and he had changed drastically like they said. Because after that incident, secretly I was a little bit afraid of him too now.

***

A short while later the five of us arrived at the hospital, the very same hospital that this crazed murder of a man that already succeeded in killing me once was unfortunately recovering at. I heaved a sigh of dread as we trudged down the slick, shiny tile floors of the hospital lobby and to the help desk.

Monobrow was still the absolute last person I wanted to talk to, and despite Perry's reasoning to talk to him I was still apprehensive to see this man after all he had done. This is the guy who tried to shoot my best friend, and probably would have had I not given up my own life to save him. This was the man that tried to separate the strong, lasting bonds of friendship Perry and I worked so hard to obtain, and he just carelessly severed them and left both me and my nemesis wallowing in depression for quite some time. So why he wanted us here today, I don't know. Maybe he was going to raid the hospital for some surgical tools and use them to rip our hearts out through our chests, except literally this time.

I groaned again as I followed Carl to the right room, practically dragging myself down the long corridor to our destination. Perry must have noticed how grumpy and reluctant I looked, since he wore a face of worry and concern when he looked up into my hesitant, distrustful dark blue eyes. He asked what was up.

"I already told you Perry, I don't think this is such a good idea. I know he had a dramatic change of heart and he was the one with the idea to save me, but this is still the man that tried to kill you, and the man that ended up killing me. I still hate his guts and I know you do too deep inside, so even if we do talk to him our feelings of hatred will probably take control of our reasoning and we won't get anywhere with talking to him anyways." I explained, and my nemesis nodded understandingly in return.

"Don't worry, I'm sure if we just use all our strength and willpower we'll be able to control our selves enough to actually talk." Perry assured me. "First of all the guy's in a full body cast, so I think that will be a reminder to us enough not to punch him out or anything. And yes, I do hate him and I will never fully forgive him for what he did but I still have faith that he at least learned his lesson."

"O-Okay." I said, still not completely sure, but I understood the point Perry was trying to make. "I guess it's possible that he's not as evil as he was when we saw him last. And I'll try to trust him."

"That's the spirit Doofy." Perry said. "It's always good to stay optimistic about these things."

I sighed again and looked up to realize that Carl had stopped in from of one of the doors, which I supposed was Monobrow's room.

"Alright guys, he said he wanted to talk to Perry and Doofenshmirtz. Do you two want to come along too, Phineas and Ferb?" Carl asked.

"Yeah, I guess we'll come in." Phineas said. "I am a bit curious to what Monogram wants, and if he really changed and stuff."

Carl opened the door and gestured for us to enter the room, entering himself and closing the door behind him once we were all inside. The room wasn't that small to begin with, but with the five of us, the hospital bed, and the huge wall of equipment and heart rate monitors and such clustered together in there it was pretty cramped. We had enough room to stand but not really enough to walk around. Also compared to the bright fluorescent hospital lighting lining the halls, the lighting was actually pretty dim in here.

I gazed around the room, and the first thing that caught my attention over everything else was of course the sorry soul laying restless in the middle of the room on the small, shabby hospital bed we were now all focused on. He didn't look as bad as I expected, what with the entire fleet of elite O.W.C.A. animal agents basically tearing and ripping and biting and scratching him to shreds the night of my death. But considering he had been healing for a week and a half now, he still wasn't in such great shape. He had casts on nearly all of his limbs, which dangled from the ceiling as they were positioned in an upright position to help them heal faster. The slaughterer also had quite a few patches all over the rest of his body, especially on his chest, signaling a few of his ribs were probably shattered as well to add to his list of injuries. There were also a couple of those fluid things and a heart rate monitor hooked up to him with needles. Overall he looked like a sorry mess of surgical tape and disappointment as he lied helplessly here in front of us, pain in his cruel, cold-hearted eyes.

"Well Major Monogram," Carl started, breaking the cold, merciless silence that emphasized the tension between us. "I brought Doofenshmirtz and Perry here like you asked. What was it you wanted to say to them?"

Perry and I stepped forward, arms folded crossly in front of us as we impatiently waited for an answer.

"Alright guys, this isn't easy to say." Monobrow started. "But I was wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong, and I wish so much that I could have seen that before the entire situation spiraled out of control. I'll admit, it was a disaster back there, and I was the one who started all the malicious, unnecessary deaths and murders. Perry, you even told me right from the get-go that my reasoning was immoral, and that everyone that I eventually ended up destroying wasn't the kind of person I thought they were. I was trying to get rid of the evil that tainted the world, since as the head of our agency I felt it was my solemn duty to protect Danville from the evils that prevailed over us. But little did I realize the only real evil here was me. In my attempt to do good I obliterated dozens of innocent lives, including yours Doofenshmirtz." he paused, turning to me and looking up into my face sincerely and apologetically. I scoffed at his feeble attempt to make me feel like I had to forgive him.

"But after this whole disastrous experience I'm a changed man." he continued. "I now realize that just because someone may conjure up some evil schemes once in a while doesn't make them a bad person on the inside, at least not enough to annihilate them for it. And for all the pain, death, and depression I caused you two through this whole unnecessary situation, I am deeply sorry. I know apologies won't fix anything or make you forgive me, but please understand that that's not what I'm trying to prove here. I just want you to know that I learned my lesson and I am ashamed and mortified by my malevolent, cruel hearted acts and I will never stop wallowing in extreme hate and disgust at myself for this. Again, I do not ask of your forgiveness, I only called you here today so that you know that I realize why my actions were wrong in every possible perspective and that I deeply apologize for the pain and trouble I've caused you all in the past week or so."

I wanted to spit on him. No way did I believe any of this hogwash he was trying to fool us with. Of course he was begging for forgiveness! Pretty indirectly I might say, but it was pretty obvious what he really wanted out of all this. He just wasn't going to be happy with himself until he has everyone in the world back on his side, was he? Major Francis Monogram, you make me sick. I don't know how in the world you expect anyone to feel the least bit sorry for you just because you're injured and you hate yourself.

"Major Monogram," Perry said, a very serious yet unimpressed expression carved like stone into his unchanging face. "When you first sent all of the agents in your organization out to murder their nemeses, I'll be honest, I thought you had gone crazy. And I realized that that was exactly the case. You had finally lost your mind. I didn't understand your reasoning, or why you wouldn't listen to mine, but I wasn't going to follow your orders. It wasn't because I didn't want to obey you anymore, it was only to keep my nemesis, or should I say my best friend, alive. I didn't want to go rebellious or anything, but I had to do what I had to do to keep me and Doofenshmirtz safe. So eventually I became an agent against my own agency. But it was only because I was fighting for what I loved. So after everything I had been through striving to save Doof, you could imagine how upset I was when you inconsiderately killed him. I know that bullet was meant for me, and considering how exceedingly miserable I was in the week that followed his death I even wished that bullet had killed me instead. So after one of the most important people to my whole life was hastily shot by my former insensitive boss, you couldn't blame me for hating your guts and never wanting to forgive you."

After Perry had harshly broken to Monobrow how much he wanted that piece of trash dead, I could see the hope and serenity drop from the Major's eyes as he listened to this. But I for one was enjoying this lecture Perry was giving him! Maybe it was partially due to the fact that I was still evil at heart, but mostly because I agreed with Perry! I still hated that man's guts, and I was glad that Perry was finally sticking to him how much he despised that bastard! I would have enjoyed it much more if Perry had screamed it at him though. Now that would have been amusing!

"However," Perry carried on, signaling that he was getting to the good part of his speech. "As much as I loathed you deeply for the pain and agony you had caused me and my friends and especially Doofenshmirtz, you did show quite a change of heart over the course of the last few days. Honestly, I expected you to still be the malicious, twisted man you had become in this entire mess and you'd still crave revenge against all of us for destroying your pointless plans. But to my surprise you actually know where you went wrong, and I think it's even safe to say that you've learned your lesson here. I don't know if one of the agents knocked the sense back into your head while they were beating the crap out of you, but it seems that you've finally seen the light and realized where you went wrong enough to even fix it. And I couldn't begin to express how extremely thankful I am that you brought back my nemesis, even though you were the one that killed him in the first place. Thanks to you're idea, not only is Doofenshmirtz revived but Carl's already ordered the other agents to use the device to bring back the rest of the evil scientists as well. So you have fixed your mess here, and because of that, I forgive you."

I along with the rest of us in the room, including Monobrow gasped. Perry actually fully forgave this jerk for all the damage he's caused here? I found that just plain ridiculous! Seriously, what is there to forgive? I mean he seems to have learned his lesson, but he murdered so many people, including me! How could Perry or anyone on this planet for that matter EVER forgive Major Monogram just like that?

"I forgive you, but only to a certain extent." Perry said. "I forgive you in general as a person considering you have learned your lesson, and not only apologized but actually fixed your actions. But your actions in themselves were inexcusable, and therefore I'm still tremendously furious with your choices. So I'm afraid there's still that tense difference between us that will forever separate our relationship, so no matter what I assure you we will never be anything close to friends again. Don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily hate you. I think it would just be better for everyone's sake if we just never entered each other's lives again. Is that alright? I mean you have a life long jail sentence once your injuries heal up anyways."

Monogram looked down at his former agent from his hospital, his eyes glistening in the dim hospital lighting. But oddly enough he was actually smiling! Perry just pretty much broke it to the guy that he never wanted to see or talk to him ever again in his life, and he was happy about it! Wow, Monobrow's got more issues than I thought. Maybe they gave him a little too many pain killers.

"Truthfully Perry, I expected you to entirely hate me for life and probably storm out of the room today. But I'm grateful that you forgive me as a person, considering I still don't. I still hate myself entirely. But I sincerely thank you for seeing that I am in fact a changed man. And you're right, it definitely would be safe if we just never got involved with each other anymore. I understand." Monogram said, almost tearing up now.

"Alright," Perry said. "I guess this is farewell then—"

"Uh, not quite." Monogram interrupted him. "There are a couple more things I wanted to say first. First of all, about the O.W.C.A. I know I hastily abused my position as head of the agency, but I want it to continue on in the right hands. So since technically I'm still head of the organization I'm passing the job onto the trustworthy hands of you, Carl."

Monogram turned to Carl, who was in complete shock at this sudden surprise from his ex-boss. He looked like he was about to burst into tears of overwhelming joy at this. I wondered why Monobrow was giving the position of head of the O.W.C.A. to a lowly intern. That didn't seem very thought through, I mean what did the kid have, a couple years of unpaid experience working there? But I guess he did deserve it, I mean Carl was a very smart, trustworthy kid, and the only one that we trusted to help us while we were travelling to Seattle as fugitives.

"I am honored sir!" Carl said gleefully between sniffles as he saluted the former leader of the O.W.C.A.

"There's no need to call me 'sir' anymore Carl. From now on, if anyone in the organization is being addressed with any authority, it's you." Monobrow said proudly, like Carl was his son graduating from high school or something. The red-headed nerdy teen squealed enthusiastically in response.

"So to all of you, I believe it is time to say goodbye." Monobrow said. "I did my best to fix the mess I had caused earlier, so I hope you all make the best out of the rest your lives and just forget about me and the error of my ways."

"Goodbye, Major Monogram." Carl said, still overwhelmed with pride and disbelief at his new head position at the agency.

"Goodbye, Major Monogram." Phineas said. "Even though Ferb and I haven't known you for all that long, I'm sure you were a better person before this whole mess and I hope you continue to be a better person from now on."

"Goodbye, Francis." Perry said plainly, but I noticed just a glimmer of sadness lingering behind his emotionless voice as he said his farewells to his former boss for the very last time. It was strange for Perry to get emotional over things unless they involved me.

There was sort of a long pause after that. I was a little too distracted in my thoughts to really notice what was going on until I looked up and found everyone glaring up at me expectedly. "What?" I asked, confused as to why everyone seemed frustrated at me all of a sudden. Then I suddenly realized what they wanted, or really expected from me.

"Oh, fine! Goodbye Francis." I said unwillingly, muttering the goodbye halfheartedly under my breath. "Can we go home now?"

"Goodbye everyone." Major Monogram said. "It was nice knowing all of you, and I really wished I hadn't screwed up our relationship. I just still can't help feeling that apologies aren't enough, so if there's anything I could ever do for you, anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask."

I was about to turn around and walk out of the room when I noticed Perry had a peculiar look on his face, kind of like he was planning something. I pondered what could be on his mind right now.

"Hmmm, anything, you say?" Perry asked, turning back to face his former boss with an intrigued expression on his face.

"Well, anything in my power, I'd be willing to do for you." Monobrow said.

"Well, there is a promise I made to a friend, and I think you could help me keep it." Perry said, a strange, determined smirk forming on his face.


	26. Chapter 26

**Peter the Panda's POV**

I trudged down the large, empty room, my feet making large thudding sounds that echoed off the walls as I slumped lazily and unwillingly over to my computer. I yawned and sat down, waiting for my slow internet connection to boot up.

I was pretty overtired considering I hadn't got much sleep lately. And not to mention the long, boring trip back to my home in Seattle yesterday. I was really too sore to do anything, not that I would be getting any missions soon anyways since my nut job boss was either in the hospital or in the slammer. And even if everything was back to normal I never got any missions anyways, nobody ever needed me. I was basically just a stupid worthless back up agent that no one paid any attention to.

So after the whole incident that changed everyone's lives forever, my life was practically intact. I didn't suffer much or lose anything during this grueling, heartbreaking situation. Perry was the one that lost everything. And now that Doofenshmirtz was finally back in his life I didn't have anything to worry about either. But of course that meant I was back to being lonely and ignored again. The only reason anyone ever needed me was because I was the only one left to help them. That was the only reason I was ever really needed, if I was their last hope. Just like when that evil scientist convention captured all the agents, including me. Besides Perry, whom Major Monogram considered too valuable of an agent to lose, I was the last agent sent that day. Because I was always picked last. That was my life. And even after all this drama and death and pain that seemed to plague everyone around me blew over, my lousy, miserable life was of course unscathed. And alas I was back in my big, vacant base that was the only thing I had to call home, and I was probably never going to be needed again.

Once my computer finally started up I opened up my email to check my messages. Though I had no one in my life that really emailed me, Pinky has been checking up on me and talking to me more since this whole mess was cleaned up, which I was grateful for. I'm glad Pinky talks to me, he's one of the few friends I have and he really is a nice, considerate person. That's why my mood perked up slightly when I noticed a message from him sitting in my inbox, and I eagerly clicked on it to see what was up.

I skimmed through the message, and was pretty shocked by what it said. I read it over a couple more times to see if I was mistaken or not, but I wasn't. Maybe Pinky was playing a joke on me? But he wouldn't pull a joke like this, especially around a sensitive person like my self.

The message read: 'Peter, guess what? You got adopted! I'm not kidding, Perry asked Major Monogram to post your profile up on an adoption website and a family actually accepted you! You have a host family now! Isn't that amazing?'

Underneath the message was a link. I followed it, and sure enough it brought me straight to this pet adoption site. I scrolled down the page and was exceedingly stunned when I found my picture! It had all my information underneath it too! But the most amazing part was it said 'adopted' underneath my profile! There was another link underneath that as well. My paws shaking with excitement and disbelief, I moved the mouse over and clicked, and another website profile showed up. It…it was a family. There was a picture of a mother, father, and two little girls about five or six years of age. I read the information underneath and was shocked to find that this was a family that lived right here in this side of Seattle!

My eyes grew wide with delight! Perry, he had actually kept his promise! He put up my profile online and a family adopted me! This was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life! If I still had my human voice (which I disabled after the incident) I would have shrieked in glee! This was absolutely phenomenal! I was no longer was alone, for the first time in my life I had a…family! Family. That word I could get used to. It sounded much better than 'the lonely panda'. No, I finally had people to love me and I could love them, just like Perry and Pinky and all the other agents! This was fantastic! I couldn't begin to describe the warm, fuzzy feeling of delight and excitement emerging from my heart which was now wide with joy. I was still struck with disbelief as a million other thoughts ran through my head!

I closed the window the link had taken me to and opened my email back up. I started typing a reply to Pinky as fast as my enthusiastically trembling paws could. The reply read: 'OMG are you serious? This is terrific! I'm so psyched right now! Tell Perry I love him so much!'

I hit send and waited a few moments, and Pinky must have been online since another message popped up surprisingly fast. I read it over, and it said 'I know right? But get ready to love Perry even more, look what else he did for you:'

There was another link, which I followed to bring me to another profile page. I looked it over, and it was a picture of what looked like…and evil scientist? I read it over, and it was another person local to Seattle. And it was an evil scientist! I couldn't register this in my brain for a moment or two, but then it suddenly hit me! Perry had apparently gotten me a nemesis as well!

I hurried back to my email account and sent another reply to Pinky. I wrote: 'Are you kidding me? Perry got me a nemesis too?'

I waited patiently for a reply, which came up moments later. The message from Pinky read: 'Yep! Isn't this amazing? You never have to be alone anymore Peter! Now you have loved ones just like me and Perry!'

I sat there and stared blankly at the computer screen, completely dumbfounded by this truth. I honestly thought that everyone would just forget me again. I figured that Perry would forget the promise he made me and be too caught up piecing his own life back together to care about me. I thought I was just going to fade into the background as just your average lonely, unlovable panda yet again and be confined in this cold hearted junkyard I call home for the rest of my life, never to be needed or even wanted ever again.

But Perry hadn't forgotten me at all. He had turned my life completely upside down and brought me a family and a nemesis, and he did this great favor in the middle of all his problems that he was still wrapping up. I smiled warmly, and was flabbergasted to find small tears trickling down my black and white fur from my beady black eyes. I hastily wiped the tears away. I, I never cried about anything! This was actually getting me so emotional that I was reduced to tears! But they were happy tears, of course. I was so grateful and thankful towards Perry and his generous deed. Not only did this amazing happening give me new people to love, it made me realize that I already had people that cared about me and loved me. Perry really was a true friend.

So thank you Perry the Platypus, you're a life saver.


	27. Chapter 27

**Perry's POV**

"Perry! Perry, wake up!"

I groggily opened my eyes and gradually broke back into consciousness at the sound of my owner's voice gently calling my name and urging me to get out of bed. I picked myself up and yawned, stretching my limbs until I was fully awake and aware. I looked up to of course see Phineas and Ferb already out of bed, standing over me and waiting for me to drag my lazy butt out of bed too.

"Good morning, boy!" Phineas said, greeting me politely and enthusiastically as always.

I lazily yawned once more and plopped myself back down on the bed, closing my eyes and desperately trying to get just a little more shut-eye. I heard Phineas chuckling at my unwillingness to get out of bed, like usual. What could I say? Being a secret agent was a tiring job, I needed all the sleep I could get.

But unfortunately my attempt to fall back asleep was rudely disrupted when my annoying little wrist watch alarm went off, signaling a new mission for today. I groaned and hastily turned it off. I guess now I had to wake up. I checked the little watch and answered the urgent message, and Carl popped up on the little screen as usual.

"Good morning Agent P!" he greeted me.

"Ugh, what's so good about it?" I half yawned, still too tired to really care.

Carl rolled his eyes at my lazy, unenthusiastic attitude, but continued on with my daily mission anyway. "Well Doofenshmirtz is up to something, you should go see what's up." he said.

Sighing, I gave a half-hearted solute to my boss and hid my watch back under a patch of fur on my arm. Was going all the way over to D.E.I. just to ultimately press a self destruct button and leave really worth getting out bed for? But nevertheless I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stretched again, now fully awake and ready for what ever mission awaited me. I climbed out of bed and started strolling out of Phineas and Ferb's room, but wasn't the least bit surprised to hear small but obvious foot steps behind me.

I turned around to face the boys, and they didn't even need to say a word for me to automatically know what they wanted. "Fine, you guys can come too." I said, and the two brothers cheered and high fived in delight.

I think of all the changes Carl had made to the agency once he was put in charge, this one was my favorite. It was much easier to let the boys know my secret, and I didn't have to be as sneaky around them anymore. If Major Monogram was still running the O.W.C.A, he'd make me erase their memories of everything. Where's the fun in that? I personally think it's a lot easier this way now that they know I'm a secret agent. Plus getting to take Phineas and Ferb on missions is pretty fun too! They always seem to get really excited when they see me fighting for some reason. I don't know, if you ask me fighting is fun but it gets old after a while. But it's been a few months and the boys never seem to get tired of me pulling a few judo maneuvers on my nemesis.

Speaking of Doofenshmirtz, that's the one part of my life that stayed remotely the same. After the incident and after Carl had finally pieced the O.W.C.A back together, Doof figured he would just give up evil. But I didn't want to abandon our old lives even after everything that had happened, so I eventually convinced him not too. So our lives carried out just like before, where he gets raveled into this big evil scheme and I have to stop him. But a couple things have changed big time, more specifically in our relationship instead of our old routine. We still fought each other everyday, but the fighting was more out of fun than out of hate anymore. It was hard to even call Doof my nemesis really, besides the fact that I still foiled his evil schemes all the time. After everything that had happened, he was more like family to me than ever.

"What do you guys think you're doing?"

My thoughts were interrupted when we ran into Candace on our way out, and she looked pretty irritated about something or other. She glared past me and down at her brothers, waiting impatiently for an answer.

"Actually Candace we weren't really doing anything today." Phineas said.

"Oh don't try and pull that on me, I'm sure you guys are obviously gonna make some sort of big doohickey or whatchamajigger thingy in the backyard and I have to relentlessly drag mom home to bust you for it!" she said.

"Well, uh, actually Candace we were just gonna take the day off today and tag along with Perry at work." Phineas said, and Candace dropped her glare and pondered that for a moment before responding.

"So you're just going to follow Perry to D.E.I or whatever? Perfect! That means I have the day off to spend with Jeremy…" she said, pronouncing her boyfriend's name dreamily as her voice seemed to trail off for a bit at the thought of him. "Aw I love ya Perry! Thanks for taking these two bozos off my hands for the day! Have fun at work or whatever, and tell Doof I said hi!"

After that she dashed up the stairs to her room and shut the door, psychotically laughing to herself all the way up. The three of us just kinda blankly stared up after her, a little disturbed by her sudden switch in mood.

"Okay, then…" I said. "Let's go…"

So the boys and I left the house and I grabbed my platypus shaped flying car from my underground lair. We climbed in and headed out to see what Doofenshmirtz was up to. I wondered what my nemesis would have in store for me to thwart today. Giant robots? Some random destructive ray gun? Or maybe he wasn't really up to anything at all and he was just doing something extremely boring that he needed my help with. I sighed. Whatever his evil scheme of the day may be, I just hoped it wasn't too tiring for me.

I thought for a moment, and remembered back quite a while ago before the whole situation with Major Monogram when I was always this unwilling to put up with Doof. And I never really cared about him or realized how important to my life he really was until he was suddenly almost taken away from me. I took a deep breath and brightened up my reluctant mood a bit. Sometimes I just forgot how much of a luxury my life really was, and I took everything for granted. My nemesis was lucky to be alive and I was still too lazy to even drag myself out of bed to see him. I decided to try and feel more enthusiastic and look at the positive sides of coming to work.

***

~DOOFENSHMIRTZ EVIL INCORPERATEEEEEEEED~

At the sound of the evil jingle, I pulled my hover car in front of his building and the three of us climbed out. I looked up to the very top of the huge building, but there was no sign of any ray guns or machines on his deck, or really anything suspicious at all. This made me a little more suspicious and curious to exactly what Doof might be up to today.

We climbed into the elevator after entering the building and started up to the very top floor of the enormous purple building. Once we finally reached the top I wasn't in the mood to break in, so I just pulled out my key to Doof's apartment and let myself in. Another thing that changed with me and Doof was my breaking into his house every day. I rarely did that anymore, considering it's just more of a hassle for both of us. And since he gave me the key to his apartment, I figured I might as well use it once in a while, right?

I strolled in, expecting some sort of trap to fly out at me or a cage to drop on top of me at any moment now. But after a few minutes of waiting, still nothing. I looked around, but there were no evil schemes or inventions anywhere either, not even a sign of the evil doctor. I took a few more cautious steps, but still nothing. I heard Phineas and Ferb following closely behind me, but besides the gentle sound of their quiet footsteps there was not a sound in the entire room. Now I was getting a little frustrated.

"Doof?" I called, my voice rebounding back off the walls, the only reply being my own echo. "Doofenshmirtz? I'm here to foil your scheme or whatever." There was still no answer. I frowned. Why even bother calling me all the way over here if he wasn't even going to answer me anyway?

Then suddenly out of no where two gigantic, robotic arms came straight out of the floor on either side of me, tightening around my arms and restraining me from escaping. Phineas and Ferb gasped and stepped backwards in shock at this sudden movement. I growled a little under my breath in frustration. If he was going to trap me couldn't he at least make it slightly more comfortable?

"Ha ha! Surprised you didn't I Perry the Platypus?" Doof said, entering from the other room with the remote control to my trap clutched in his hand. I growled in irritation under my breath in response.

There was silence for a moment as my nemesis looked past me and noticed Phineas and Ferb. His mood seemed to cheer up a bit at their presence.

"Oh, you brought Phineas and Ferb along with you? Perfect! You guys know I always love vists from you guys! You can make yourselves comfortable on my sofa over there, alright?" Doof said hospitably, gesturing the boys towards the couch on the other side of the room where they obediently sat down.

Oh yeah, another huge change was my two lives finally combining. Ever since Doofenshmirtz met my owners they've come quite close as family in the past few months. It's really touching to me to see my family and my old enemy coming together as friends, or really coming together at all for that matter. It felt like an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders now that I no longer needed to keep any secrets from anyone. Life just ran much smoother for all of us like this.

And I suppose you're wondering if I'm concerned at all for the boys' safety, since as you know I'm always paranoid about anything bad happening to Phineas and Ferb. Well now that I'm closer to my nemesis than ever, I really tend to trust him a lot more than I used to. I know for a fact he would never think of hurting me or the boys, since even Doofenshmirtz doesn't have a heart that evil, especially after that huge life-altering experience that changed us both so much. So even though I'm twice as protective over my family than before, I feel like they're safe around each other at least.

So Phineas and Ferb eagerly watched as Doof made his way back across the room and straight to me again. I was sure they were anticipating some sort of huge battle or a life-threatening evil scheme to keep them on the edge of their seats. But me, I was just hoping to get this over with and go back to bed. I was surprised I hadn't passed out on the spot already.

"So Perry the Platypus, let me introduce you to my latest evil scheme!" Doof started, signaling that his monologue would ravel into some sort of long, rambling back story from his dark, cruel childhood.

Now on any normal day earlier this summer, I would have been half listening and completely bored out of my brain at the sound of whatever his dumb, pointless schemes and flashbacks were. I would have hated being here and wanted just to go straight home after beating my nemesis up a little and foiling his plans. Because back then, I hated him and his plans. It seems so hard for me to even imagine myself hating my nemesis anymore, but as weird as that is I did. I used to hate Doofenshmirtz and dread dragging myself over to his house everyday, for I would always be bored and unimpressed with his countless traps and schemes and songs. But I never for a second realized that this man that I found boring, pathetic and unintelligent, somehow completed my life. I never really figured out that the crazy mad doctor I thought I hated was truly my best friend. It took me so ridiculously long to realize that no matter how much I fought and tricked myself into thinking I hated Doofenshmirtz, I actually loved him deep down.

And it wasn't until his life was threatened to be brutally sacrificed and taken away from me forever did I finally find the true love for him in my heart, and my true desire to keep him alive at all costs. And so my treacherous journey began, both physically and mentally. And I risked my own life and limb countless times to keep Doof's heart beating, so when I ultimately failed it was inevitable that I was struck with great depression at the loss of my new found friend. So now that Doof was finally back to life and safe again I learned to never, ever take advantage of our strange yet beautiful friendship ever again.

So yeah, as dangerous and life threatening as the entire experience was, I think everyone really benefited from it, you know, despite Monogram being thrown into prison for the rest of his life. Now not only did I have closer bonds with my family, my nemesis, and my new boss and all the agents, but I learned the extremely important lesson to not take advantage of your life and loved ones, for you never know when it all just might be taken away from you. Or when there are people out there like Peter formerly was, who never had anyone to love. So in this important lesson I personally think that being an agent against the agency improved my life significantly more than it destroyed it.

I took a deep breath and sat back in my trap, clearing my thoughts and focusing my attention completely to what Doof had to say. Now I was fully engulfed and intrigued in his back story, eager to here whatever the doctor had to say, for once.

THE END

* * *

Thanks so much for those of you who made it all the way to the end! Reviews would be welcomed.


End file.
